topic: Extinction

topic: Extinction

Social media activity version | Lean version

Choosing coexistence over conflict: How some California ranchers are adapting to wolves
- California’s expanding gray wolf numbers — a conservation success for an endangered species — have worried ranchers in recent years as wolf-related livestock kills mount.
- Some ranchers are adapting to the changing landscape, using short-term nonlethal deterrents, some of which are funded by a state compensation program.
- A few ranchers are exploring long-term approaches, such as changing their ranching practices and training their cattle to keep them safe from wolves.
- While change is hard, ranchers acknowledge that learning to live with the new predator is the only way forward, and it pays to find ways to do so.

South Africa withdraws abalone listing even as illegal trade threatens species
- Ahead of the recent CITES summit to hash out wildlife trade regulations, South Africa was expected to table a proposal that would have tightened the legal trade in South African abalone, a shellfish in high demand in East Asia.
- The proposal was aimed at protecting an endangered species that’s been severely depleted by a massive illegal trade driven largely by organized crime.
- However, the South African delegation withdrew the proposal at the last minute, amid ongoing tensions in the country between conservationists, abalone farmers and coastal communities dependent on income from the illegal trade.
- A recent report by wildlife trade NGO TRAFFIC calls for coordinated international action to curb the illegal trade, including a CITES listing.

To save jaguars from extinction, scientists in Brazil are trying IVF and cloning
- In Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the Reprocon research group, which specializes in assisted wildlife reproduction, has been investing in cloning methods and protocols for jaguars since 2023.
- Fragmented habitat has isolated jaguar populations, causing them to cross with members of the same gene pool. Today, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and cloning techniques have been improving the genetics of groups to avoid eventual extinction of the species because of inbreeding.
- Cloning is used together with other endangered wildlife conservation strategies like creating, expanding and connecting preserved habitat. Reprocon expects to transfer its first cloned embryos to female cats in 2026.

First state-authorized killings mark escalation in California’s management of wolves
- California’s wildlife department killed four gray wolves in the Sierra Valley in late October, in a dramatic escalation of tactics to address growing predation of cattle by the canids and despite protection under state and federal endangered species laws.
- The department says the wolves killed at least 88 cattle in Sierra and Plumas counties and continued to target livestock despite months of nonlethal deterrents deployed to drive them away.
- The state employed lethal action despite its compensation program, which pays ranchers for cattle killed by wolves, and additional federal subsidies paid to the livestock industry at large.
- The state wildlife agency confirmed a new pack –– the Grizzly pack–– earlier this week with two adults and a pup. Though the state’s wolf population remains small and vulnerable, ranchers are increasingly concerned about livestock deaths.

Botanists decode secret life of rare plants to ensure reintroduction success
- Working with South African daisies, Colombian magnolias and Philippine coffee trees, botanists the world over are discovering the secrets to bringing extremely rare and threatened plants back from the brink of extinction. Reintroductions are often the only way to build back thriving populations, but scientists face numerous hurdles.
- A major barrier is lack of botanical knowledge about rare species, making it hard to produce sufficient viable seeds, determine triggers for germination, and identify suitable seedling habitat. If seeds aren’t available from rare plants, botanists must use cuttings to propagate plants.
- Newly established plant populations often need help in the face of numerous threats. Climate change, for example, can not only create harsh new growing conditions but also fuels the spread of plant pests. Young plants frequently need to be protected from human activities like poaching, intentional burning or land-use change.
- While it can take decades for reintroduced plants to grow into sustainable, self-replenishing populations, project funding is often limited to three years or less, especially in the Global South. Experts say they hope funding will increase as recognition grows that ecosystem restoration requires plant diversity, including rare species.

Already disappearing, Southeast Asia’s striped rabbits now caught in global pet trade
- Rare, elusive and little-known to science, two species of striped rabbits are endemic to Southeast Asia: Sumatran striped rabbits from Indonesia and endangered Annamite striped rabbits from the Vietnam-Laos border region.
- Both species are threatened by habitat loss and illegal snaring, despite having protected status in their range countries.
- In recent months, authorities have seized at least 10 live rabbits smuggled from Thailand on commercial flights to India, highlighting the first known instance of these rabbits being trafficked internationally for the pet trade.
- Conservationists say this trend is alarming, given that the two species are on the brink of extinction. They urge range countries to add the two species to CITES Appendix III, the international wildlife trade convention, and to work with Thai authorities to establish a conservation breeding program with the seized rabbits.

For sharks on the brink of extinction, CITES Appendix II isn’t protective enough (commentary)
- Listing shark species under CITES Appendix II, which allows for well-monitored sustainable trade, has helped to save some sharks from extinction. But some species are so threatened that they need to be listed on Appendix I, which bans all trade.
- New research has revealed that many fins belonging to sharks protected by Appendix II are still being sold in large numbers in Hong Kong, one of the biggest markets, supporting the need for action on Appendix I listings for some species at the CITES COP20 meeting that commences next week in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
- “Governments meeting at COP20 in Uzbekistan should follow the science, support these proposals, and help save these sharks and rays from the brink of extinction. It’s the only way to give these species a fighting chance at survival,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A slowdown, not salvation: what new extinction data reveal about the state of life on Earth
- Extinction rates appear to have slowed since their peak in the early 1900s, suggesting not a reprieve for nature but a shift in how and where losses occur. Much of the damage was concentrated on islands, where invasive species drove many native plants and animals to extinction.
- The study challenges the assumption that past extinction patterns predict future ones, highlighting major data gaps—especially for invertebrates—and warning that today’s threats stem mainly from habitat loss and climate change on continents.
- Conservation efforts have shown that targeted actions, such as invasive species removal and habitat restoration, can be highly effective, though success remains uneven and far smaller than the scale of global biodiversity loss.
- Even as outright extinctions slow, ecosystems continue to unravel through declining abundance, lost ecological knowledge, and homogenization of species—signs that life’s diversity is eroding in subtler but equally serious ways.

In memory of the Christmas Island shrew
- Once abundant on Christmas Island, the tiny, five-gram shrew (Crocidura trichura) filled the night forest with its high, thin cry before vanishing into silence.
- Introduced black rats and their parasites decimated the island’s native mammals, and by 1908 the shrew was thought extinct, its memory confined to museum drawers and field notes.
- Brief rediscoveries in 1958 and 1984 brought fleeting hope, but the last known individuals died in captivity, and no others have been found despite decades of searching.
- Its loss, now made official, adds to Australia’s grim record of extinctions—a quiet reminder of fragile lives erased by invasion, neglect, and the noise of human expansion.

Arctic seals edge closer to extinction as sea ice vanishes
- Three Arctic seal species have been moved up to higher threat categories on the IUCN Red List, with one now endangered and two now near threatened.
- Global warming is melting away the sea ice they need for breeding, resting and feeding, which has led to widespread breeding failures among ice-dependent seals.
- Loss of sea ice is also opening the region to more human activity, including shipping and oil exploration, bringing added disturbance, noise and pollution.
- The IUCN warns a similar pattern is emerging in the Antarctic. It says urgent global emissions cuts, along with stronger local protections such as reducing bycatch and pollution, are needed to prevent further declines.

Christmas Island shrew officially declared extinct: IUCN
The Christmas Island shrew, a tiny mammal once found only on the Australian island of the same name, has been declared officially extinct. It’s at least the fourth small mammal species to be wiped out from the island since the introduction of invasive species there a century ago. The Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura) was […]
Mining the deep-sea could further threaten endangered sharks and rays
- A new study indicates that deep-sea mining could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, many of which are already at risk of extinction.
- The authors found that seabed sediment plumes and midwater discharges of wastewater from mining activities could cause a range of impacts on shark, ray and chimaera species, including, but not limited to, disruptions to breeding and foraging, alterations in vertical migration, and exposure to metal contamination.
- The authors recommend precautionary measures, including improved baseline monitoring, the development of protected zones, and discharging wastewater below below 2,000 m (about 6,600 ft).
- With companies planning to begin deep-sea mining in international waters as early as 2027, the authors say more research is urgently needed to understand the full ecological impact of this emerging industry on biodiversity.

The slender-billed curlew, a migratory waterbird, is officially extinct: IUCN
The last known photo of the slender-billed curlew, a grayish-brown migratory waterbird, was taken in February 1995 at Merja Zerga, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. There will likely never be another one. The species, Numenius tenuirostris, has officially been declared extinct by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. “The extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew is […]
Study warns up to a quarter of Philippine vertebrates risk extinction
- A new study warns that 15-23% of the Philippines’ 1,294 terrestrial vertebrates face extinction, with amphibians and mammals at highest risk.
- Endemic species are most vulnerable, yet many lesser-known taxa like flying foxes, Cebu flowerpeckers and island frogs receive little research or funding compared to charismatic species such as the Philippine eagle and tamaraw dwarf buffalo.
- Habitat loss, overhunting and the wildlife trade remain the leading threats, while research gaps and bureaucratic hurdles hinder effective conservation planning.
- Experts say the findings should guide the updated Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, prioritizing poorly studied species and high-risk sites not yet covered by protected areas.

Indigenous-led protections spark Bali starling’s recovery in the wild
- An Indonesian songbird once nearly extinct in the wild, the Bali starling, is making a comeback through community-led conservation on Nusa Penida and beyond.
- Strict law enforcement and captive breeding failed to reverse the bird’s decline; poaching and habitat loss continued despite decades of formal protections.
- In the early 2000s, conservationists changed tactics, working with communities on Nusa Penida to establish the island as a sanctuary for Bali starlings.
- Villages embraced traditional awig-awig regulations to protect the starling, creating powerful cultural, social and financial deterrents to poaching.

Biodiversity is our most sophisticated information network and must be protected (commentary)
- Each species represents a unique library of evolutionary wisdom, encoded in DNA and refined over millions of years.
- In a new commentary prior to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) quadrennial conference this month, IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak argues that biodiversity represents the most ancient and sophisticated information network our planet has ever known.
- “As the world gathers in Abu Dhabi for the IUCN World Conservation Congress, let us safeguard this living network with vigilance, investment and care — ensuring that nature’s silent information exchange endures as our shared inheritance for generations to come,” she writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Extinct-in-the-wild plant rediscovered in Sri Lanka thanks to social media
In 2012, Sri Lanka’s National Red List pronounced the towering Doona ovalifolia tree “extinct in the wild.” Known locally as pini-beraliya, the species lingered only as a single cultivated specimen in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya. For years, that lone tree stood as a melancholy reminder of what had been lost. The species’ unlikely […]
Gray wolves’ return to California tests human tolerance for coexistence
Gray wolves are making a comeback in the western U.S. state of California after a century-long absence. Conservationists say their return is a success, but it’s putting pressure on ranchers and rural communities as wolf attacks on livestock mount, Mongabay wildlife staff writer Spoorthy Raman reported. The state’s last wild wolf (Canis lupus) was shot […]
Funding is needed to save Samoa’s ‘little dodo’ from extinction (commentary)
- Since 2014, Samoa’s “little dodo” has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List: related to the extinct dodo, an adult manumea, as it’s called locally, has not been photographed well in the wild, and its song has rarely been recorded.
- But an underfunded conservation effort led by the Samoa Conservation Society and the nation’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) could still snatch this fascinating species from the extinction list, a new commentary argues.
- “In my view, a large-scale, multiyear forest conservation project funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the MNRE is essential,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Mozambican reserve harbors largest documented breeding population of rare falcon
- A new study estimates Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique hosts 68–76 breeding pairs of Taita falcons, likely the world’s biggest population of the rare raptor.
- Niassa’s granite inselbergs provide hunting advantages over larger falcons, allowing the Taitas to thrive.
- Woodland clearance, charcoal production, agriculture and domestic fowl could shift the balance in favor of peregrines and lanners, but conservation measures and the resilience of miombo woodlands offer hope.
- Once-healthy populations in South Africa and Zimbabwe have collapsed, underscoring Niassa’s importance for the species’ survival.

Madagascar’s dry forests need attention, and Verreaux’s sifakas could help
- Western Madagascar is home to some of the country’s poorest communities and its most endangered wildlife, presenting intertwined challenges for conservation.
- The region’s characteristic dry forests have been badly damaged by clearing of land for shifting agriculture — and for mining, plantations and timber harvesting — over the past 50 years: Across Madagascar, nearly 60% of dry forest species are classed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.
- NGO leaders, scientists and government representatives are forming a dry forest alliance to better coordinate efforts to protect this valuable biome.
- Among the new alliance’s first actions was pushing for the inclusion of the critically-endangered Verreaux’s sifaka on the latest list of the World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, which alliance members hope will attract greater attention to this primate’s threatened habitat.

Fear & uncertainty grip Nigerian community after fatal elephant attack
- A 50-year-old farmer, Yaya Musa, popularly known as Kala, was attacked and killed by an elephant in the Itasin-Imobi community, in Nigeria’s Ogun state, in late July.
- Villagers say they live in constant fear of elephant attacks, with two previous incidents reported in recent years, including an assault on Badmus Kazeem, a chainsaw operator in 2024, who spent seven months in the hospital recovering from injuries.
- The Ogun state commissioner for forestry reportedly says the incident occurred in a designated wildlife area, but community members reject this claim, insisting their ancestral lands predate the elephant reserve and that their livelihoods depend on farming and fishing in the area.

Lost to feral cats, saved by zoos: The story of the Socorro dove
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. At Chester Zoo in the U.K., eight downy chicks have emerged this year — an encouraging development for a bird thought lost to history, reports Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough. The Socorro dove (Zenaida graysoni), once common on the Mexican […]
Collaboration key to lemur survival: Interview with primatologist Jonah Ratsimbazafy
- Primatologist Jonah Ratsimbazafy has warned that primate conservation is at critical juncture, and success will depends on collective effort.
- As he concluded his term as president of the International Primatological Society, he urged its members to work collaboratively and inclusively.
- Mongabay interviewed Ratsimbazafy about the state of research and protection for the Madagascar’s iconic lemurs on the sidelines of the 30th congress of the IPS in Antananarivo in July.

Tropical bird numbers plummet due to more days of extreme heat, study finds
Tropical bird populations are crashing as temperatures soar. That’s according to a new study that found abundances of tropical birds were 25-38% lower than they would be without human-driven climate change and the rising temperatures it has caused. This temperature impact on birds is greater than declines attributed to deforestation. “It’s a staggering decrease. Birds […]
Latest rhino assessment finds two species recovering, but three continue to decline
- Rhino poaching persists despite a slight decrease worldwide over the last three years, driven by relentless demand for their horns in East Asia, according to a recent report by TRAFFIC and the IUCN.
- Three of the world’s five rhino species are still in decline, the report finds, with white rhinos in Africa dwindling to an almost two-decade low.
- Greater one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal are recovering well, while Indonesia’s Javan and Sumatran rhinos — both critically endangered species — continue to teeter on the brink of extinction.
- Experts say increased intelligence and cross-border cooperation, stronger community programs and enforcement, and stricter sentences for traffickers are needed to save these megaherbivores.

Nepal looks to Cambodia’s breeding model as Bengal florican numbers plunge
- Nepal is debating a captive-breeding program for the Bengal florican, a critically endangered bird, but experts say it shouldn’t be an alternative to stronger habitat protection.
- Fewer than 1,000 birds remain worldwide, with just a few dozen in Nepal, where farming, invasive plants, pesticides and disturbance are driving the decline.
- Cambodia has hatched floricans in captivity, and Nepal has similar experience with vultures, but experts warn that floricans are elusive, sensitive to stress, and difficult to breed.
- Conservationists stress the need for better grassland management, protection of nonbreeding habitats, and community support programs to prevent grassland conversion for agriculture.

Small islands offer big hope for conservation of endemic species, study shows
- New research in Indonesia shows that small islands, often considered extinction hotspots, can act as crucial refuges for rare mammals like the anoa and babirusa, which face severe threats from deforestation and poaching on larger land masses.
- Genetic analyses of more than 110 individuals revealed that while small-island populations have lower genetic diversity and higher inbreeding, they also carry fewer harmful mutations — likely because long-term isolation allowed natural selection to purge them.
- Smaller islands were also found to host higher-quality, better-protected forest habitats, suggesting that conserving these areas may be more effective than attempting “genetic rescue” by moving animals from mainland populations, which could introduce harmful mutations.
- The study highlights the need to refine taxonomy, prioritize protection of small-island habitats, and integrate these overlooked areas into conservation planning, as they may hold the key to the long-term survival of iconic and endemic small-island mammals.

Social media post sparks rediscovery of endemic Sri Lanka rainforest plant
- Classified as “extinct in the wild” in Sri Lanka’s 2012 Red List, the endemic rainforest giant known as Pini- Beraliya (Doona ovalifolia) has been rediscovered in several locations, but the first discovery of the plant was triggered by a Facebook post.
- The species was long known only from a single cultivated specimen found at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya, which served as a living reference during decades without any wild sightings.
- Conservation efforts now include propagation of hundreds of seedlings at the Endane plant nursery in mid-country and the creation of a community-run nursery in Pimbura in southwestern Sri Lanka, where schoolchildren actively water and monitor these plants in their school premises.
- A recovery plan aims to protect all remaining wild trees, expand ex-situ collections and restore suitable riparian habitats with the help of local guardian groups.

Fate of iconic, and endangered, Brazilwood pits musical tradition against conservation
- The tree that gave Brazil its name is on the brink of extinction, thanks to demand for its wood to make the bows for stringed musical instruments.
- The Brazilian government is seeking to tighten regulations on the Brazilwood trade, including finished bows, when parties to CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, meet for their next summit in Uzbekistan in November.
- Brazilian authorities are asking that the same controls applied inside Brazil be respected overseas as well in order to slow the illegal trade of Brazilwood.
- Within the musical instrument industry, there’s support for the plan and for the use of other timber species as a substitute for Brazilwood, while others insist a ban would undermine the characteristic sound of violins and cellos.

Javan rhino numbers plunge; Sumatran rhinos remain near extinction: Report
- After a poaching crisis, Javan rhino numbers have dropped by a third.
- Sumatran rhino estimates remain the same — on the edge of extinction.
- Still, recent developments provide a little good news for both species: recent births for Javan rhinos and a potential surviving population in southern Sumatra for Sumatran rhinos.

Wolves’ continued spread in California brings joy, controversy & conflicts
- After nearly a century’s absence, gray wolves continue to recolonize California, bringing changes and challenges to the state and its inhabitants.
- Ongoing research and monitoring programs are helping scientists understand growing wolf populations and their impact on prey species, other predators and alterations to the landscape.
- Gray wolves in California are protected under both federal and state laws. But balancing conservation, livestock predation and public safety concerns is complicated.
- The state has formulated a management plan for wolves: a compensation program for ranchers who lose livestock to wolves and efforts to mitigate conflicts.

New list of primates in peril aims to focus attention and inspire action
- A new list of the 25 most threatened primates has been published by the International Primatological Society, which held its 30th congress in Madagascar in July.
- More than 40% of primate species are classed as endangered or worse, and the biannual listing of the most threatened species aims to draw attention to species at particularly high risk, and inspire action to protect them.
- The 2025 list includes species from Asia, Africa and the Neotropics.
- Some species are absent from the latest list thanks to an improved outlook, but others have been displaced only because of the deteriorating situation for others.

Domestic cats pose interbreeding threat to little known wildcat ancestor
Domestic cats are hugely popular as pets, yet little is known about their ancestor, the Afro-Asiatic wildcat. This species, Felis lybica, is the most widely distributed wildcat in the world, but experts still don’t know its exact population. The wildcat faces several threats to its survival, including interbreeding with domestic cats and the diseases they […]
Nepal launches action plan to boost endangered dhole conservation
Once widespread throughout much of Asia, the wild dog known as the dhole has disappeared from more than 75% of its historical range, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. In Nepal, there are an estimated 500 dholes (Cuon alpinus) remaining, but recent sightings suggest they may be making a comeback. This has […]
Study highlights dangers of declaring conservation success too soon
The IUCN Red List has long been the globally recognized gauge for assessing how close to extinction a given species is. An improvement in the species’ conservation status from a higher to a lower threat category, known as downlisting, can signal conservation success. But a recent study says this must be done cautiously to avoid […]
In rare triumph, camera traps snap endangered wildcats in Pakistan
- Conservationists in Pakistan have snapped incredibly rare images of two small cat species: the Asiatic caracal (Caracal caracal schmitzi) and the sand cat (Felis margarita).
- The 2025 caracal image comes after two other sightings in the country were captured on camera phones.
- Very little is known about caracal and sand cat populations in the country. Though both species are of least concern at the global level, they’re highly endangered in Pakistan.
- Conservationists say they’re hopeful these sightings will spur interest in small cat species in Pakistan and encourage greater protection and targeted conservation measures.

Sri Lanka’s plant messiah spreads optimism for biodiversity & conservation
- A young Sri Lankan scientist, Himesh Jayasinghe, has rediscovered more than 100 of 177 possibly extinct species in Sri Lanka as well as three of five extinct species and both species previously considered extinct in the wild.
- Jayasinghe up to now has found some 210 species that have never before been reported from Sri Lanka, with about 50 of them already known from India, while a further 20, though named in the historical literature, can now be added to the national floral inventory of Sri Lanka supported by hard evidence.
- These discoveries hint that unexpectedly high numbers of new plant species may await discovery even in well-explored tropical countries such as Sri Lanka and emphasizes that the process of inventorying biodiversity should not be retarded by the demands of formal taxonomy and informal names backed by georeferenced voucher specimens and photographs being sufficient for conservation purposes.
- Many species thought to be extinct may be rediscovered when targeted searches are conducted using new eyes, experts say.

Giant river otter returns to Argentina after almost four decades
A family of giant river otters was released into the Iberá National Park in northeast Argentina on July 1. The endangered species, with no known breeding populations in Argentina over the past 40 years, was considered probably extinct in the country. The release, led by conservation nonprofit Rewilding Argentina, included a breeding pair named Coco […]
Study urges legal protection for Sulawesi’s endangered bear cuscus amid habitat loss
- A new study has revealed that the endangered bear cuscus in South Sulawesi occupies a highly fragmented and shrinking habitat, with less than 1% of surveyed areas deemed suitable, largely due to poaching, mining expansion and forest loss.
- Despite being previously protected, the species was excluded from Indonesia’s 2018 protected species list, and researchers argue this oversight must be corrected given the animal’s vulnerability and ecological importance.
- The study also highlights the cuscus’ broader scientific significance as one of the few marsupials in western Wallacea, as well as its cultural and emotional value to local communities that have learned to coexist with it.
- Experts and the study’s authors urge stronger habitat protection, stricter environmental controls and greater public engagement to ensure the species’ survival.

First-ever assessment highlights threats to Atlantic cold-water corals
- A new study published in the journal Marine Biodiversity delivers the first global IUCN Red List assessments for 22 cold-water coral species in the Northeast Atlantic.
- More than 30% of the species are at risk of extinction due to bottom-contact fishing, habitat destruction and climate change, with white coral (Desmophyllum pertusum) listed as globally vulnerable.
- Experts say the findings highlight gaps in conservation, especially for deep-sea species often excluded from monitoring and protection efforts.
- The study’s release comes at a key moment, as international talks continue under the Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty to improve high seas biodiversity protections.

Nepal launches plan to boost science, awareness to save dholes
- Nepal has launched its first-ever species-specific action plan for dholes (Cuon alpinus), allocating 262.9 million rupees ($1.9 million) over five years to address key threats such as habitat loss, prey depletion, disease and competition with larger predators.
- The plan prioritizes both scientific research and public awareness, with the highest budget shares going to understanding dhole distribution (25%) and conservation education (26.4%), highlighting a dual strategy of data-driven conservation and local engagement.
- A key innovation is the financial model, which leverages 36% of the funding from existing conservation plans for tigers and snow leopards — species that often share habitats with dholes but may also displace them.

Bangladesh aims to revive five critically endangered plants
- Bangladesh is attempting to conserve and nurture five critically endangered flora species to ensure their healthy population in nature. Currently, these plants are present only in some specific places in the country.
- The species are the bulborox, small-bulb orchid, dwarf date palm, chaulmoogra and bashpata, which are identified as critically endangered in the latest Plant Red List of Bangladesh.
- The Bangladesh Forest Department has taken the initiative to increase the plants’ numbers by cultivating them in the National Botanical Garden and the National Herbarium before planting them in suitable habitats.

“The Birds,” Revisited (cartoon)
A new study using citizen science data via eBird — an app used by birdwatchers to record sightings — has found that declines in bird populations in North America are the steepest where the respective species have historically been most abundant.
Seventy southern white rhinos arrive at their new home in Rwanda from South Africa
- Conservation NGO African Parks has successfully transferred 70 southern white rhinos from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park.
- The rhinos are the first international translocations under African Parks’ Rhino Rewild initiative, which will disperse more than 2,000 rhinos from a captive-breeding operation that the NGO purchased in 2023.
- African Parks previously moved a herd of 30 rhinos to Akagera in 2021, and says Rwanda will provide a safe, viable home for more — with the potential for future expansion of the white rhino population from there into East and Central Africa.

New population of rare douc langurs found in Vietnam’s highland forests
- Conservationists surveying upland forests in central Vietnam have located a new subpopulation of critically endangered gray-shanked douc langurs.
- Fewer than 2,400 individuals are thought to remain in the wild, mostly in Vietnam, where more than half live outside of formally protected areas.
- Forest loss and hunting pressure have driven the species to the brink of extinction, spurring stakeholders to develop an action plan for the species in 2022.
- Experts say the new discovery underscores the need for conservation measures that go beyond traditional area-based approaches to encompass habitat restoration, community-based programs and habitat corridors.

Critically endangered chameleon discovered outside its known habitat in Madagascar
- In April, researchers found individuals of a critically endangered chameleon species in southwestern Madagascar.
- Furcifer belalandaensis had not previously been recorded outside of a tiny area threatened by deforestation for charcoal and agriculture, and by the development of a major mining project.
- Researchers working to improve knowledge of the Belalanda chameleon’s distribution were excited to find three of the rare reptile five kilometers (three miles) away, in the PK32-Ranobe protected area.
- But Ranobe’s forests are also under pressure; captive breeding and revising the protected area’s management plan are among of the conservation measures being considered to ensure the species’ survival.

Tabby’s likely ancestor & Earth’s most widespread wildcat is an enigma
- The Afro-Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica) is the world’s most widely distributed small wildcat, but it’s also one of the least studied. The cat’s conservation status is listed as “of least concern” by the IUCN. But due to a lack of data, population trends are unknown, and the species, or subspecies, could vanish before humanity realizes it.
- One of the only long-term studies on the cat’s behavior and population genetics occurred in South Africa’s Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It sheds light on a species that is vital to the ecosystems it inhabits and possesses remarkable adaptability.
- At some point, thousands of years ago, F. lybica was domesticated, making it the ancestor of the common house cat (F. catus), which, in evolutionary terms, has become one of the most successful mammal species on Earth.
- Inbreeding with domestic cats has become a serious threat to Afro-Asiatic wildcat conservation. Wildcat experts urge pet owners to spay their house cats. Feral cats should also be spayed, especially in areas bordering preserves where F. lybica lives. Education about this small wildcat could also help with its conservation.

Indonesia convicts trafficking accomplice in a Javan rhino poaching scandal
- Indonesia’s Supreme Court has sentenced Liem Hoo Kwan Willy to one year in prison for facilitating communication in the illegal trade of Javan rhino horns, overturning his earlier acquittal despite evidence linking him to the transactions.
- The ruling is part of a broader crackdown following the 2024 exposure of organized poaching in Ujung Kulon National Park, where police linked up to 26 rhino deaths to coordinated criminal networks involving local and international actors.
- Conservation groups have raised concerns over flawed population data, with evidence suggesting rhino killings began as early as 2018 and continued despite official reports of stable numbers, while key suspects and evidence remain unaccounted for.
- Meanwhile, the recent identification of three new Javan rhino calves offers hope, credited to strict park protections and improved monitoring, even as experts warn that ongoing poaching threatens the species with extinction.

Climate change now threatens thousands of species on Earth
- A new analysis of more than 70,000 wild animal species reveals that climate change now threatens thousands of to the planet’s wildlife, along with overexploitation and habitat degradation.
- The study found that nearly 5% of the assessed species are threatened by climate change, with ocean invertebrates being particularly vulnerable to climate change-related threats, such as extreme temperatures, floods, droughts, storms and ocean acidification.
- The study warns that some animal populations, both on land and at sea, have already begun to collapse due to climate change-related events, and it’s now necessary to monitor mass die-offs to understand the impacts of climate change and predict future impacts.

How manatees won over an entire village
BARRA DO MAMANGUAPE — Brazil. It’s hard to imagine today, but manatees were once hunted and eaten. These gentle sea mammals were considered a delicacy in Brazil, with their meat consumed by local fishermen and their skin and oil exported to Europe during colonial times. This exploitation pushed the species to the brink of extinction. […]
Traffickers slither through loopholes with wild-caught African snakes and lizards
- South Africa’s native reptiles and amphibians, including threatened species, are being illegally captured and exported for the global pet trade.
- A recent study found that eight of the 10 most-exported reptiles from South Africa are native species, most of which are not protected by CITES, the global wildlife trade convention.
- Conservationists suspect some breeders falsely claim wild-caught reptiles, such as giant girdled lizards, are captive-bred to bypass trade restrictions.
- Legal loopholes at both the national and international levels allow non-CITES-listed species to be traded with little oversight.

‘De-extinction’ isn’t just misleading — it’s dangerous, ecologist says
A biotech company in the United States made headlines last month by revealing photos of genetically modified gray wolves, calling them “dire wolves,” a species that hasn’t existed for more than 10,000 years. Colossal Biosciences edited 14 genes among billions of base pairs in gray wolf DNA to arrive at the pups that were shown, […]
Beyond the Safari
The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa, as protected areas become battlegrounds over history, human rights, and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss. Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins, and trying to forge a path forward […]
Elevator to extinction (cartoon)
As climate change pushes montane species upslope in a bid to escape warming temperatures, species, including birds, occupying the highest altitudes could be left with nowhere to go, making them the most prone to extinction.
Action plan aims to save Asia’s leaf-eating monkeys amid ‘alarming’ declines
- A new conservation plan aims to halt the decline of langur monkeys in Southeast Asia, where habitat loss and poaching have severely reduced their numbers.
- The 10-year Asian Langurs Conservation Action Plan focuses on the six countries in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, a region known for its astonishing range of habitats and species.
- Based on insights from leading primatologists, the plan prioritizes measures needed to safeguard 28 species and subspecies of langurs.
- Key goals include strengthening and enforcing existing wildlife laws, reducing demand for langurs and their body parts, and raising awareness about their protected status and cultural and ecological importance.

Dugong numbers plummet amid seagrass decline in Thailand’s Andaman Sea
- Thailand’s dugongs are disappearing fast, reflecting an unfolding crisis in the region’s seagrass ecosystems.
- Seagrass beds on Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast that support one of the world’s most significant populations of dugongs have died off in recent years, creating an increasingly challenging environment for the charismatic marine mammals.
- Scientists point to a combination unsustainable coastal practices and climate change as the main factors driving the decline.
- Government agencies, marine scientists and volunteers are taking emergency steps to save the remaining dugongs, but experts warn their long-term survival in Thailand depends on fixing the root causes of the seagrass loss.

The effort to save Syria’s northern bald ibis population failed, but much can be learned (analysis)
- The bald ibis once lived across the Middle East, North Africa and Southern and Central Europe, but has disappeared from most of these areas and is currently considered endangered.
- A strenuous effort to save one of the last breeding populations in Syria succeeded briefly, but eventually failed due to multiple reasons, including the recent civil war.
- However, much good resulted from the program and insights were revealed, a new analysis explains.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

As Australia’s ‘nature positive’ plans ring hollow, how will other nations respond?
The Australian government recently promised and then shelved its key environmental protection commitments, including the establishment of an environmental protection agency (EPA) with legal authority to prevent extractive projects from moving forward without strict oversight, and the development of a robust accounting of the nation’s ecological health via an environmental information authority. These programs were […]
Bleak future for Karoo succulents as desert expands in South Africa
- Recent population surveys show continued decline in two desert-adapted succulent tree aloe species, with conservationists fearing for the state of an understudied third species.
- A years-long drought has accelerated spreading dust-bowl conditions following decades of mining and heavy grazing, with grave consequences for endemic succulents.
- A conservation triage should prioritize cultivating at-risk species in nurseries and botanical gardens, many of which are unlikely to survive reintroduction into their natural habitats.  

How one woman’s wolf ‘moon shot’ changed Yellowstone forever: Interview with director Tom Winston
- A new documentary film, “Mollie’s Pack,” tells the story of the then-head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mollie Beattie, and the controversial, but ultimately triumphant, restoration of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995.
- The filmmakers were able to find and access lost footage to make a compelling and emotional film about success and loss.
- The restoration of wolves into Yellowstone was a “moon shot” moment, according to director Tom Winston.
- Winston says the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone will be “a motivating factor” for future rewilding initiatives around the world.

In Australia’s little-known rainforests, tradition and science collaborate for good
- Australia’s Kimberley region houses some of the country’s most botanically diverse ecosystems: monsoon rainforest patches.
- Although they’ve been harvested and cared for by First Nations groups for millennia, the patches remain largely unsurveyed by modern science as the tropical climate and rugged terrain make access difficult.
- Indigenous ranger teams have been working for more than 20 years to implement land management programs, including traditional burning regimes, in order to conserve the rainforest.
- A recently published general interest book has called for the preservation of Kimberley Monsoon Rainforest patches and for ongoing, close collaboration between First Nations communities and academic teams.

Can a new DNA test save the world’s rarest turtle?
- Scientists have developed and validated a DNA test kit to help detect the critically endangered Yangtze softshell turtle, a species on the very cusp of extinction.
- The environmental DNA, or eDNA, kit was designed specifically for the species with the hope of finding any unknown individuals in the lakes of Vietnam, in order to eventually establish a captive-breeding program.
- The new method doesn’t require samples to be exported to laboratories abroad; it also allows researchers to obtain results quickly.
- Only two or three individuals of the Yangtze softshell turtle are known to exist; the last known female died in 2023, rendering the species functionally extinct.

Getting rewilding right with the reintroduction of small wildcats
- Four lynx were illegally released in Scotland earlier this year by an unknown party, sparking condemnation. One of the cats died shortly after capture. That release comes amid long-running discussions of a possible reintroduction of this wildcat to the United Kingdom.
- Conservationists are working to reintroduce small cats across the globe. There are about 40 recognized species of wildcats, including a handful of charismatic big cats and at least 33 small wildcat species — with some of the most threatened felid species numbering among them.
- Mongabay spoke to experts working on small cat recovery projects in various stages of progress to understand what can make small cat reintroductions successful.
- Small wildcat reintroductions are presently underway or under consideration on the Iberian Peninsula, in Scotland, Argentina, Taiwan, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand and elsewhere.

‘An oval with legs’: In search of Tanzania’s tiny island antelope
- On Zanzibar’s second-largest island, Pemba, lives a diminutive antelope that hasn’t been officially recorded in at least 20 years.
- Its long absence has fueled fears the animal may have been exterminated from Ngezi Forest Reserve by hunters.
- In early December, a group of scientists and conservationists set up camera traps to try to find signs that this subspecies of the tiny blue duiker is still alive.

Growing conservation and community: Interview with Ngezi reserve chief
- Khamis Ali Khamis has a long career in community-led conservation in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago, the last six years of them in charge of Ngezi Forest Reserve on the island of Pemba.
- He says the main challenge facing the 2,900-hectare (7,200-acre) reserve is maintaining a balance between nature conservation and resource extraction by the growing human population living around it.
- “The use of natural resources is always increasing, so we need to find an alternative way” to provide local livelihoods, Khamis tells Mongabay in an interview.
- He emphasizes the importance of planting the message of conservation in youths to help build a community that ultimately supports conservation.

1 lynx dead, 3 quarantined after suspected illegal release in Scotland
What started out as a reported sighting of a pair of Eurasian lynx in the Scottish Highlands has turned out to be an alleged case of “guerrilla rewilding” or, at the very least, illegal release of four individuals of a species long extinct in the area, media reports say. A pair of Eurasian lynx (Lynx […]
‘LIFE’ scores map out where habitat loss for crops drives extinction
- Altering natural habitats for agriculture is the single biggest driver of extinctions.
- Land conversion is contributing to what scientists call Earth’s sixth mass extinction.
- Now, new maps link the conversion of landscapes to the risk of extinction for species; they also help identify places where restoration could increase the probability that species will survive.
- The tool works accurately on areas of land ranging from 0.5-1,000 km² (0.2-386 mi²), and could be used by consumers and conservation groups to identify key areas to prioritize for conservation or restoration.

1 in 4 freshwater species worldwide at risk of extinction: Study
The most extensive global assessment of freshwater animals to date has revealed that a quarter of all freshwater animal species on the IUCN Red List are threatened with extinction. The largest number of these threatened species are found in East Africa’s Lake Victoria, South America’s Lake Titicaca, Sri Lanka’s Wet Zone, and India’s Western Ghats […]
Five Hawaiian crows released into forest after decades of extinction in the wild
Five Hawaiian forest crows known as ʻalalā, which were declared extinct in the wild decades ago, were released into Hawaii Island’s Maui forests in the United States in November, marking their potential comeback into wildlife. The jet-black ʻalalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) are among the rarest birds on Earth, having disappeared from the wild in 2002 due […]
‘Like you, I fear the demise of the elephants’
- There are nearly 9,000 inland protected areas across the African continent, covering 4.37 million square kilometers (1.69 million square miles).
- These protected areas are at the center of conservation policymaking by African countries hoping to safeguard nature and threatened wildlife.
- Under the UN Global Biodiversity Framework’s “30×30” target, the amount of conserved land in Africa would significantly expand.
- As part of a reporting series on this goal, Mongabay visited protected areas in three countries: Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.

Vietnam’s mammals need conservation within and outside their range: Study
- Vietnam is a treasure trove of mammalian diversity: it’s home to the highest number of primate species in mainland Southeast Asia and a host of unique species found nowhere else on the planet.
- However, a new study reveals more than one-third of Vietnam’s mammal species are threatened with extinction at a national level.
- The researchers advocate combining field-based and ex-situ conservation measures to recover the country’s mammal populations.
- They recommend conservation managers focus on establishing captive-breeding populations of key conservation species, as well as strengthening protection of habitats and creating wildlife corridors.

Brazil natural landscape degradation drives toxic metal buildup in bats
- Bats play a crucial role in tropical regions as pollinators, seed dispersers and agricultural pest controllers. But they are exposed to a wide range of threats, pollution among them.
- Two recent papers show how natural landscape transformation and degradation, due to pasture and crop monoculture creation and mining in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, can increase bioaccumulation of toxins and heavy metals in bat populations, leading to potential health impacts.
- Over time, this toxic accumulation could increase the likelihood of local bat extinctions and the loss of vital ecosystem services. The toxic contamination of these landscapes also poses a concern for human health, researchers say.
- These findings are likely applicable to bats living in other highly disturbed tropical habitats around the world, researchers say.

Gum-eating Tanzanian monkey is AWOL, fueling extinction fears
- There have been no confirmed sightings of Tanzania’s critically endangered southern patas monkeys for more than a year, raising fears the species is edging ever closer to extinction.
- In 2021, there were estimated to be fewer than 200 southern patas monkeys left in the wild, restricted to the western portion of Serengeti National Park.
- Researchers have appealed to members of the public to record sightings of the shy but distinctive animals, but only two separate sightings were made in 2022, one in 2023, and none so far in 2024.
- The species is due to be featured in the IUCN’s Primates in Peril, a list of the world’s 25 most endangered primates, for the second year running.

Slender-billed curlew, a bird last photographed in 1995, is likely extinct
For decades, the slender-billed curlew, a grayish-brown migratory wetland bird with a long, arched bill, has evaded detection, prompting speculation about whether the species is still out there. Now, a new study has confirmed that the species is indeed most likely extinct. “Speaking personally it’s a source of deep sadness,” Geoff Hilton, conservation scientist at […]
Last wild hurricane palm of its kind falls, marking extinction
The last wild Round Island hurricane palm, a rare tree native to Mauritius, snapped during a windstorm in mid-September, marking its extinction. Once thriving on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, the tree had stood alone for decades as the only survivor of its kind. Standing 9 meters (30 feet) tall, the Dictyosperma album […]
A key driver of decline, can wild orchid collectors change their ways?
- Orchids are unsustainably plucked from the wild the world over to furnish private collections, driving many species to the brink of extinction.
- Conservationists in Southeast Asia are increasingly collaborating with orchid enthusiasts to try to reduce the pressure on wild populations.
- Factors that continue to drive wild harvesting in the region include a lack of knowledge of species’ conservation status and legal protections, and misguided horticultural fads.
- New global guidelines on sustainable orchid practices and budding conservation-focused orchid networks aim to enable orchid enthusiasts to reduce their impact on the very species they adore.

Bobcats are back, and they’re helping protect people from zoonotic disease
- In the last 125 years, bobcats have recovered significantly from extremely low numbers, with several million individuals found throughout North America today.
- Living at the interface of urban and rural environments, bobcats face many human-caused dangers, including loss of habitat to roam, automobiles, and rodent poisons.
- Bobcats help reduce the spread of diseases from animals to humans partly because they and other large mammals are poor disease vectors. Bobcats also prey on the small rodents that easily transmit pathogens.
- It’s legal to hunt bobcats in most of the United States. California, which has for five years closed the bobcat season, may reinstate hunting in 2025. Some researchers suggest that regulators should more carefully consider the role thriving wildcat populations play in protecting human communities from zoonotic diseases before expanding hunting.

Killing of jaguar pushes species’ survival in Argentina’s Gran Chaco to the brink
- The recent killing of a jaguar by hunters increases the species’ risk of extinction in Argentina’s Gran Chaco landscape, where no more than 10 of the big cats are thought remain.
- Images of this particular jaguar were captured by camera trap twice this year as it traveled through a biological corridor; the next time it was photographed was on social media, where hunters posed with its carcass and its pelt.
- A tradition of hunting, lack of public awareness, persistent deforestation, and absence of female jaguars — there’s only one, recently rewilded into the area — are the biggest obstacles to the jaguar’s survival in the Argentine Gran Chaco.

Canopy bridges serve a lifeline for Sumatra’s tree-dwelling primates
- An NGO is working with local authorities in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province to build canopy bridges for primates to safely cross roads that fragment their forest habitats.
- Pakpak Bharat district has seen rapid growth of new roads to improve communities’ access to schools and hospitals, with the trade-off being that many of these roads disrupt wildlife connectivity.
- The bridges, designed to meet the needs of different species, have been used by various wildlife, though not yet the critically endangered orangutans that the designers had in mind, and are monitored regularly through camera traps and maintenance checks.
- Conservationists highlight the bridges’ role in preventing inbreeding among isolated populations and sustaining the ecosystem’s biodiversity, with hopes to expand the initiative across Sumatra.

Langurs in Bangladesh face extinction as hybridization between species escalates
- Bangladesh is home to less than 500 Phayre’s langurs and 600 capped langurs in the rainforests in the country’s northeast.
- A recent study has unveiled a trend of hybridization between Phayre’s langurs and capped langurs in Bangladesh, which are listed as critically endangered and endangered, respectively, by IUCN.
- Hybridization is a vital indicator of ecological change, and researchers are raising serious concerns about the genetic health of the two species and their future existence in the wild.
- The study holds human activities such as deforestation, habitat fragmentation and hunting as some of the causes responsible for increasing the risk of hybridization cases.

Most countries miss biodiversity pledge deadline to protect 30% of Earth
Twelve of the world’s 17 most biodiverse nations, home to 70% of the planet’s species, are likely to miss the United Nations’ Oct. 20 deadline to submit plans for reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, a joint analysis by The Guardian and Carbon Brief found. At the U.N.’s 2022 conference on the Convention on Biological Diversity, […]
Combined effects of human activities increase risk to ecosystem services
- A global analysis finds that exposure to multiple human-caused stressors is reducing the ability of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services. However, precisely how these myriad human-induced environmental changes interact to disrupt ecosystems and alter these vital services is poorly understood.
- Researchers analyzed more than 1,000 experiments that measured the response of ecosystems to one, two or three human-caused environmental stressors. The scientists found that the ability of ecosystems to maintain their current function declines as the number of stressors they are exposed to increases.
- The scientists also analyzed data from a long-term experiment on the effect of four simultaneous environmental stressors on plant productivity. This single study showed that ecosystem services’ resistance to change gradually declines with long-term exposure to multiple environmental stressors.
- The new study sheds light on a crucial unanswered environmental science question: How do interactions between multiple planetary boundary transgressions accelerate the collapse of key Earth system processes that keep the planet habitable?

26 elephants from Namibia moved to Angola’s only private conservation area
- A translocation of 26 elephants from Okonjati Game Reserve in Namibia to Cuatir Conservation Area in southeastern Angola has just been completed.
- Private conservation areas are not yet an official designation in Angola, making Cuatir a pioneer of the approach.
- Southeast Angola has recently been highlighted as an area with a lot of conservation potential, but there’s still a lot of work required to make the region’s national parks viable.
- Proponents say private conservation areas like Cuatir offer another currently underutilized way to catalyze conservation in Angola.

‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains
- The mountainous forests of the eastern DRC are home to a strikingly beautiful bird: the yellow-crested helmetshrike.
- The species was considered lost to science until late last year, when an expedition of U.S. and DRC scientists spotted flocks of the birds gliding through the forests of the Itombwe mountains and snapped the first photo.
- Their observations will help to fill in some key knowledge gaps on this little-known species, which faces threats from habitat destruction and climate change.

More alarms over Indonesia rhino poaching after latest trafficking bust
- A recent rhino horn trafficking bust in southern Sumatra may be linked to a poaching network in Java responsible for killing 26 Javan rhinos since 2019.
- The arrest of a 60-year-old suspect in the bust highlights the broader crackdown on the illegal wildlife trade, including the use of cyber patrols to monitor online trafficking activities.
- Investigations have uncovered significant discrepancies between official rhino population figures and actual numbers, suggesting that many rhinos have disappeared due to poaching, despite government claims of population growth.
- Conservation experts stress the exclusivity of the rhino horn trade network and the need for specialized efforts to dismantle it.

African Parks embarks on critical conservation undertaking for 2,000 rhinos
- African Parks, which manages national parks in several countries across the continent, plans to rewild all 2,000 southern white rhinos from Platinum Rhino, winding up John Hume’s controversial intensive rhino breeding project.
- The conservation organization needs to find safe spaces to translocate 300 rhinos to every year, as poaching of the animals for their horns continues.
- Potential recipient areas are assessed in terms of habitat, security, national regulatory support, and the recipient’s financial and management capacity.
- Earlier this year, 120 rhinos were translocated to private reserves operating as part of the Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation.

Search for rare Nigerian damselflies finds forest habitats under threat
- Nigeria’s Cross River state, famed for its gorillas, chimpanzees, drill monkeys and forest elephants, is also part of an ecological region known to harbor the greatest diversity of dragonflies and damselflies in Africa.
- A Nigerian-Dutch team recently published details of three new species of dragonfly it found during its survey of four locations across the state, alongside dozens of other dragonflies and damselflies, including some that are now critically endangered.
- Many of the forests and streams the insects live in are threatened by fire, deforestation and the expansion of commercial oil palm plantations.

Institutional conflict puts successful Spix’s macaw reintroduction at risk
- A successful program to reintroduce the Spix’s macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, back into its native habitat has been thrown into uncertainty over a split between the two key institutions behind it.
- ICMBio, Brazil’s federal agency responsible for managing biodiversity, has refused to renew an agreement with the ACTP, the German organization running the program with birds from its captive flock.
- ICMBio alleges the ACTP has engaged in commercial transactions of Spix’s macaws by transferring some to a private zoo in India, but the ACTP insists there was no sale and it is merely relocating to better facilities in India.
- For its part, the ACTP accuses ICMBio of politicking and undermining the reintroduction program; the split has put the future of the program into doubt, given there aren’t currently enough captive birds outside the ACTP’s flock to supply the program over the long term.

For ‘extinct’ Spix’s macaw, successful comeback is overshadowed by uncertainty
- The Spix’s macaw, one of the world’s most threatened parrots, disappeared from the wild at the turn of the millennium due to the illegal pet trade and habitat degradation in its native Brazil.
- In 2022, a reintroduction program finally released the first batch of 20 Spix’s macaws, bred from captive birds, back into the wild, achieving great results, including the first hatchings of wild chicks in decades.
- A leading parrot conservationist advising on the project calls it “the most carefully planned, the most carefully executed, and the most successful reintroduction of any parrot I have ever seen anywhere.”
- In June 2024, however, the cooperation agreement between the Brazilian government and the German breeding center that holds most of the world’s Spix’s macaws ended without renewal, casting the future of the project into doubt.

Frog ‘saunas’ may help threatened frogs fight off deadly fungus
- Researchers have developed simple, sun-heated shelters that allow frogs to raise their body temperatures and fight off a deadly fungal disease called chytridiomycosis.
- The study focused on the green and golden bell frog in Australia, a threatened species, showing that frogs given access to these warm shelters cleared infections faster and developed resistance to future infections.
- This innovative approach could provide a valuable, low-cost tool for protecting various amphibian species threatened by the fungal disease, which has devastated amphibian populations worldwide.
- The research comes at a critical time, as a recent study found that two in five amphibian species are now threatened with extinction, with climate change becoming a primary threat.

Elon Musk could avert global species extinction with only a portion of his wealth
- A new study has pinpointed the most crucial areas around the world for protecting Earth’s rarest and most endangered species, the vast majority of which are found in tropical and subtropical moist forests.
- Just five countries — the Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar and Colombia — contain 59% of all identified sites globally.
- Only 7% of land protected over the past five years overlapped with these critical areas for rare species, suggesting conservation efforts could be better targeted to protect biodiversity.
- Protecting the majority of species would cost approximately $34 billion per year — 0.03% of global GDP and less than 2% of environmentally harmful subsidies provided by governments annually (such as those to fossil fuel industries), or around 16% of Elon Musk’s current net worth.

Conservationists upbeat as zebra shark reintroduction in Raja Ampat gathers pace
- Five zebra shark pups were born in April, conservationists announced, part of a cohort of 24 hatched this year to restock the wild population in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago.
- The breed-and-release program is part of the global ReShark initiative that sees leading aquariums around the world supply the eggs that then hatch into pups that are moved to marine nurseries in locations like Raja Ampat.
- Raja Ampat is the site for the ReShark project focusing on zebra sharks, an endangered species, and was chosen for its strong protections and its location in the heart of the Pacific Coral Triangle.
- The project, which began in 2022, aims to release 500 zebra sharks into the waters around the archipelago by 2032, the minimum number expected to host a viable population.

A tale of two frogs: The tough uphill battle for rediscovered species
- Some scientists worry that widespread enthusiasm over rediscovering lost or presumed-extinct species can underplay the rocky road to recovery that these species often face. Research suggests many rediscovered species have restricted ranges and small populations and remain highly threatened after their rediscovery.
- Rediscovered amphibians are particularly at risk due to their often-small ranges and risk of amphibian disease. A recently rediscovered harlequin frog species in Ecuador (tentatively identified as Atelopus guanujo), exemplifies challenges which can include intense funding competition and little legal protection or government support for imperiled species.
- The story of the rediscovered dusky gopher frog in the U.S. state of Mississippi illustrates how amphibians can benefit from strong conservation laws and government funding. Thanks to a long-term effort to conserve the dusky gopher frog, the species is now enroute to population recovery.
- Globally, rediscovered species face a range of outcomes — from full recovery to declines so severe populations aren’t genetically viable, or risk extinction due to single events. Outcomes vary based on funding, interest in conserving a particular species, and how much communities and institutions get involved in conservation.

Mysterious, at risk, understudied flat-headed cat lacks conservation focus
- Little is known about the elusive flat-headed cat, a cryptic Southeast Asian felid that’s found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and southern Thailand.
- This cat is endangered due to its habitat being converted to agricultural lands (including oil palm plantations), pollution and hunting. The small felid confounds researchers who struggle to capture it on camera traps, leaving huge knowledge gaps about its distribution and ecology.
- But collaring of the cat and tailored research is helping fill data gaps, with conservationists now planning range-wide targeted surveys and tagging efforts. Innovative research techniques, such as eDNA, could shed further light on populations, but these methods face their own implementation challenges.
- Protecting the flat-headed cat in the face of multiple threats requires more targeted research, much better funding, and specific targeted conservation action that is currently lacking.

Climate change could drive mammal extinction in Brazil’s Caatinga, study warns
- According to a new study, 91.6% of terrestrial mammal communities in the Caatinga will lose species by 2060, with 87% of them being deprived of their habitats if the temperature in the region increases by at least 2°C.
- Small mammals will suffer the strongest impact, and some species may disappear from the biome, such as the giant anteater and the giant armadillo.
- In addition to more drought and rising temperatures, deforestation caused by wind farms also threatens some species, such as the jaguar.
- In a previous study, the same researchers had warned that 99% of plant communities in the Caatinga will lose species by 2060.

Haunting song pays tribute to Toughie, the frog whose extinction went unnoticed
- The extinction of the last Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog, named Toughie, in 2016 received little media coverage, prompting environmental journalist Jeremy Hance to express his anger in an article for The Guardian.
- Musician Talia Schlanger was deeply moved by Hance’s article and wrote a song titled “The Endling” as a tribute to Toughie.
- The Earth is facing an extinction crisis driven by human activity and amphibians like Toughie have experienced massive population declines due to the chytrid fungus.
- Schlanger and Hance say that art and storytelling play a vital role in helping people connect emotionally to the biodiversity crisis.

‘The Javan tiger still exists’: DNA find may herald an extinct species’ comeback
- A 2019 sighting by five witnesses indicates that the long-extinct Javan tiger may still be alive, a new study suggests.
- A single strand of hair recovered from that encounter is a close genetic match to hair from a Javan tiger pelt from 1930 kept at a museum, the study shows.
- “Through this research, we have determined that the Javan tiger still exists in the wild,” says Wirdateti, a government researcher and lead author of the study.
- The Javan tiger was believed to have gone extinct in the 1980s but only officially declared as such in 2008, along with the Bali tiger; a third Indonesian subspecies, the Sumatran tiger, is also edging closer to extinction.

Study identifies species with a long history but short future amid threats
- A new study analyzing human-driven extinction threats to jawed vertebrates warns that we could lose between 86 billion and 160 billion years’ worth of evolutionary history over the next 50-500 years without concerted conservation action to save unique species.
- The study is the latest in an increasing body of research that indicates evolutionarily distinctive species are frequently also those most at risk of extinction.
- Turtles and tortoises, sharks and rays, and ray-finned fish were identified as among the groups of species most at risk of extinction.
- Given that global targets under the U.N. Global Biodiversity Framework are based on safeguarding evolutionary history, the authors call on conservationists and policymakers to do more to protect such evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species.

Comeback on the cards for Asian antelope declared extinct in Bangladesh
- Nilgais, the largest antelope species in Asia, are reappearing in northwestern Bangladesh, a country that was part of their historical range but where they were declared locally extinct in the 1930s due to habitat loss and hunting.
- Forays by nilgais, mostly from neighboring India but also from Nepal, suggest that the species can be reestablished in parts of Bangladesh that still have sufficient areas of undisturbed natural landscape.
- A 2023 study identified 13 instances of nilgai sightings in the country from 2018-2022 from media reports, but it’s likely that most sightings are going unreported because they end up in local residents catching and killing the antelopes for their meat.
- Experts say any attempt to reestablish a nilgai population within Bangladesh’s borders should be carried out in tandem with a public education campaign to discourage the hunting of the animal.

Dholes latest wild canids likely making comeback in Nepal, study shows
- Dholes and Himalayan wolves were extensively persecuted across rural Nepal for preying on livestock, leading to their decline in the region.
- But recent observations suggest a resurgence of both species, possibly due to the reclaiming of their former territories: Himalayan wolves may have followed yak herders from Tibet, while dholes are believed to be recolonizing areas they had been locally extirpated from.
- Camera trap surveys and literature reviews indicate the recolonization of areas like the Annapurna Conservation Area and the Tinjure–Milke–Jaljale forests by dholes.
- Despite some optimism among conservationists, challenges such as competition with other predators, habitat fragmentation and human-wildlife conflict persist, requiring further studies and monitoring efforts.

Colombia adds hundreds of species to list of threatened flora and fauna
- The Ministry of Environment updated a list of threatened species in Colombia for the first time since 2017, adding hundreds of species facing a wide range of threats, from deforestation and mining to illegal hunting and fishing.
- The country now has 2,103 species listed as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable, up by about 800 species from the last time the analysis was carried out.
- Colombia has over 56,000 species in total, making it one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, according to WWF.

After 50 years of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, we need new biodiversity protection laws (commentary)
- The U.S. Endangered Species Act marked 50 years at the end of 2023 and has achieved some notable successes in that time, like helping to keep the bald eagle from extinction, but the biodiversity crisis makes it clear that more such legislation is needed.
- “As we welcome 2024 and celebrate the strides made in biodiversity legislation, let’s draw inspiration to forge even more robust laws this new year,” a new op-ed argues.
- “In the face of the urgent biodiversity crisis, our new legislation must match the immediacy of this threat.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Scientists warn of ‘extinction crisis’ stalking Africa’s raptors
- A Nature Ecology & Evolution paper found that of 42 African raptor species, 37 had suffered a population decline over just three generations (up to 40 years).
- Raptors like secretarybirds (Sagittarius serpentarius) stand out among birds thanks to their razor-sharp vision, piercing talons and hooked beaks, making them such effective hunters of everything from other birds to mammals.
- The secretarybird, a charismatic and rare long-legged raptor that hunts on the ground, saw an 80% decline in populations in four African regions.
- The research also highlighted the grave risk to large-bodied raptor populations and the danger of some of the most threatened species being confined to protected areas.

EU’s legal loophole feeds gray market for world’s rarest parrot
- Loopholes in the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have allowed near-extinct animals to be moved across borders for breeding; in principle, CITES allows species trading for research, zoos or conservation.
- It was in this context that dozens of Spix’s macaws, a blue parrot from Brazil that’s considered extinct in the wild, were introduced into the EU, despite an international ban on the species’ commercial trade.
- In 2005, German bird breeder Martin Guth acquired three of the parrots for breeding purposes, with CITES approval, before going on to amass nearly all the world’s captive Spix’s macaws and transferring several dozen of them to facilities throughout Europe and India under an EU permit not covered by CITES.
- At a CITES meeting last November, representatives from Brazil and other tropical countries affected by the illegal wildlife trade expressed frustration that the EU had allowed unregistered commercial breeders to flourish, despite CITES having created a dedicated registration program for legitimate captive breeders 20 years earlier.

Could mugger crocodiles be brought back from regional extinction in Bangladesh?
- Once, mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) were common in Bangladesh’s major rivers, including the Padma, Jamuna, Meghna and most of their tributaries, but the species is thought to have gone extinct in the country due to unchecked poaching for its prized skin.
- Although the IUCN in 2000 declared the mugger regionally extinct in Bangladesh, three adult muggers were recovered from the country’s river and water bodies in only 11 days, Oct. 17-28 this year.
- The crocodiles were taken to the Karamjol Crocodile Breeding Centre in Khulna, and authorities are working on how muggers could be brought back to nature by increasing their population through captive breeding.
- Experts suggest establishing a safe zone for the crocodiles in the upper Padma River.

How a 160-year-old pelt piqued new findings on Indigenous ‘woolly dog’ breed
- Researchers from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History recently studied and analyzed a 160-year-old pelt of an extinct woolly dog, part of a breed that Indigenous Coast Salish communities cared for for thousands of years.
- For the first time, the study sequenced the woolly dog’s genomes to analyze the species’ ancestry and genetics and the factors contributing to its sudden disappearance at the end of the 19th century.
- Based on the genetic data, they estimated that woolly dogs biologically evolved from other breeds about 5,000 years ago.
- Researchers say numerous socio-cultural factors are likely responsible for the species’ disappearance. Chief among them were the impacts of European colonization.

Study: Singapore biodiversity loss is bad — but not as bad as previous estimate
- A recent study concludes that Singapore has lost 37% of its species since the construction of the city began in 1819.
- While high, the figure is significantly lower than a 2003 estimate of 73% species loss during the same period, a difference the authors of both the current study and the 2003 estimate attribute to more advanced statistical modeling.
- Although 99% of Singapore’s forests have been wiped out, extinction rates have leveled off and all remaining primary forest is protected, which researchers say presents an opportunity to conserve remaining species and work to reintroduce animals that have gone locally extinct.

Farewell, Java stingaree: Scientists declare the first marine fish extinction
- In December 2023, scientists declared the Java stingaree (Urolophus javanicus), a species of stingray, extinct.
- It’s the first marine fish confirmed to have gone extinct due to human actions.
- Scientists know very little about the species, which they haven’t spotted since a naturalist purchased the specimen from which he described the species at a fish market in Jakarta in 1862.

Shining a spotlight on the wide-roaming sand cat ‘king of the desert’
- The sand cat (Felis margarita) is a small, elusive wildcat exquisitely adapted to thrive in the deserts of northern Africa, Southwest and Central Asia — some of the hottest, driest habitat on the planet. These felids are near-impossible to see in the daytime and difficult to track at night. As a result, little is known about the species.
- Despite being challenged by limited resources, two European experts have repeatedly traveled to southern Morocco to study the sand cat. Their efforts, along with the rest of the Sand Cat Sahara Team, have led to the gathering of scientifically robust data that is lifting the lid on the secretive life of this tiny felid.
- The sand cat’s status is listed by the IUCN as “least concern” because there is little evidence to indicate its numbers are declining. But data across regions remain scant. New findings from southern Moroccan sand cat study sites beg for this conclusion to be reassessed, with possibly fewer sand cats existing than past estimates indicate.
- Tracking the sand cat’s changing conservation status is important because that data can indicate changes and trends in the ecologically sensitive environments in which they live. In addition, how they adapt, or fail to adapt, to climate change can give us clues to the resilience of species facing today’s extremes, especially desertification.

Study shows dire outlook for amphibians: 40% threatened with extinction
- A global survey of 8,000 amphibian species by the IUCN reveals that 40% of them are at some risk of extinction: 2,873 species in total.
- Brazil is the country with the greatest amphibian diversity in the world, home to around 1,200 species, and according to the new study, 189 are threatened, most of them endemic.
- Deforestation and lethal fungi had already been noted as causes of the decline, but now biologists are highlighting the role of the climate crisis: High temperatures and low humidity affect the amphibians’ breathing, which is partly done through the skin.
- Amphibians are important bioindicators of ecosystem health, as well as being crucial for pest control and medicine.

Dominica set to open world’s first reserve centered around sperm whales
- The tiny island nation of Dominica has announced that it will create a 788-square-kilometer (304-square-mile) reserve to protect endangered sperm whales.
- Most of the sperm whales that live off the coast of Dominica are part of the Eastern Caribbean Clan, which currently has a population of fewer than 300 individuals.
- Sperm whales in this region are threatened by fishing gear entanglement, pollution, boat strikes, and even tourism.
- The new reserve aims to protect whales by restricting activities such as fishing, vessel traffic and tourism, while not entirely banning them.

Hunters & habitat loss are key threats to red serow populations in Bangladesh
- The red serow population (Capricornis rubidus, a type of goat-antelope) has rapidly declined in Bangladesh due to hunting for meat and habitat loss; 50% of the animals’ habitat has been severely degraded over the last 10 years.
- Recent camera-trap surveys find the existence of red serows in Baroiyadhala National Park in Bangladesh.
- Some 22 cameras captured images of red serows, creating hope for its conservation, but the cameras also captured pictures of roaming armed hunters.
- Experts suggest taking conservation measures in the rocky mountain areas of Mirsharai, Sitakunda and Hazarikhil in Chattogram to revive the population of wild goats.

Boost for Sumatran rhino IVF plan as eggs extracted from Bornean specimen
- Conservationists in Indonesia say they’ve successfully extracted eggs from a Sumatran rhino to be used in an IVF program meant to boost the population of the near-extinct species.
- The donor rhino, known as Pahu, is a Bornean specimen of the Sumatran rhino, and her egg would greatly expand the genetic pool of a species believed to number as few as 40.
- Since 2012, three Sumatran rhinos have been born under Indonesia’s captive-breeding program, but all are closely related: a single captive male is the father to two of them and grandfather to the third.
- Conservationists say they hope to eventually fertilize Pahu’s eggs with sperm from captive Sumatran males, with one of the Sumatran females then serving as a surrogate to hopefully bring a baby to term.

Conservationists look to defy gloomy outlook for Borneo’s sun bears
- Sun bears are keystone species, helping sustain healthy tropical forests. Yet they’re facing relentless challenges to their survival from deforestation, habitat degradation, poaching and indiscriminate snaring; fewer than 10,000 are thought to remain across the species’ entire global range.
- A bear rehabilitation program in Malaysian Borneo cares for 44 sun bears rescued from captivity and the pet trade and has been releasing bears back into the wild since 2015. But with threats in the wild continuing unabated, success has been mixed.
- A recent study indicates that as few as half of the released bears are still alive, demonstrating that rehabilitation alone will never be enough to tackle the enormous threats and conservation issues facing the bears in the wild.
- Preventing bears from being poached from the wild in the first place should be the top priority, experts say, calling for a holistic approach centered on livelihood support for local communities through ecotourism to encourage lifestyles that don’t involve setting snares that can kill bears.

Meet Japan’s Iriomote and Tsushima cats: Ambassadors for island conservation
- Two rare subspecies of leopard cat, the Iriomote cat and Tsushima cat, can be found only on the Japanese islands they’re named after. With populations hovering around 100 individuals each, the cats are the focus of Ministry of the Environment-led conservation measures.
- The Iriomote cat has adapted to its isolated ecosystem by developing a more diverse diet than other felids. Following its well-publicized discovery in the 1960s, the cat has become an enduringly popular symbol of the island’s nature, and locals eagerly assist in conservation efforts.
- The Tsushima cat has faced habitat degradation caused by deforestation, canal construction and, most recently, ravenous deer. As the islands’ human population declines, local farmers are working to preserve the wet rice fields that help support the cat population.
- On both Iriomote and Tsushima, roadkill accidents are a major threat to the low wildcat populations. Conservation centers on the islands aim to raise driver awareness by providing crowdsourced info on cat sightings, posting cautionary signs at cat crossing hotspots, and educating locals and tourists.

As population ‘flattens,’ North Atlantic right whales remain at risk
- A new population estimate for North Atlantic right whales found about 356 individuals left in 2022, which suggests the population trend is “flattening.”
- In 2021, scientists previously estimated there were 340 right whales, although this number was later revised to 364 to account for several newborn calves.
- Despite there not being a notable difference between the population estimates in 2021 and 2022, scientists say North Atlantic right whales are still in danger of going extinct and that urgent measures need to be put into place to protect them.

South Africa’s penguins heading toward extinction; will no-fishing zones help?
- With just 10,000 breeding pairs left, the endangered African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) could be extinct in the wild by 2035 if the current rate of population decline continues.
- To protect the bird’s food supply and slow its population collapse, South Africa is throwing a protective no-fishing cordon around its main breeding colonies for a period of 10 years.
- But the devil is in the details, and conservationists say the cordons are too small to ensure the penguins get enough fish.
- Negotiations over whether to adjust the cordons are continuing in advance of an early 2024 deadline.

Bangladesh survey records invasive alien plants threatening protected forests
- According to a survey, 44 exotic invasive plant species were recorded in five protected forests in Bangladesh. Of them, seven species were found to be harmful, with significant environmental impacts on protected forest areas.
- As a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the country is committed to protecting ecosystems and biodiversity of flora and fauna.
- To check the number and reduce the negative impacts of the identified alien invasive plant species on ecology and environment, the government has taken five strategic management plans.

Gone before we know them? Kew’s ‘State of the World’s Plants and Fungi’ report warns of extinctions
- The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi” report assesses our current knowledge of plants and fungal diversity, the threats they face and how to protect them.
- The report warns that many plant and fungal species, 45% of documented flowering plants and half of all analyzed fungi risk extinction (though less than 0.4% of identified fungi have been assessed for extinction to date).
- The report identified 32 plant diversity darkspots, places where plants are highly endemic but severely under-documented, including Colombia, New Guinea and China South-Central.
- Report authors argue that priority conservation areas should consider distinctiveness in plants or “phylogenetic diversity” and found that these hotspots of phylogenetic diversity differ from the traditional biodiversity hotspots approach.

Frogs in the pot: Two in five amphibian species at risk amid climate crisis
- The extinction risk for more than 8,000 amphibian species has significantly increased in the past 18 years, primarily due to climate change impacts, with two in five amphibians now threatened, a new study shows.
- Amphibians are particularly vulnerable because of their permeable skin and specific habitat needs; diseases like the chytrid fungus further threaten their survival.
- Salamanders are the most at risk, with a lethal fungus in Europe posing a significant threat, especially to the diverse salamander population in North America.
- The study emphasizes the importance of global conservation efforts, with habitat protection showing positive results for some species, and highlights the broader context of the ongoing global biodiversity crisis.

Ken Burns discusses heartbreak & hope of ‘The American Buffalo,’ his new documentary
- Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough spoke with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns about his upcoming documentary, “The American Buffalo,” which premieres in mid-October.
- The buffalo was nearly driven to extinction in the late 1800s, with the population declining from more than 30 million to less than 1,000, devastating Native American tribes who depended on the buffalo as their main source of food, shelter, clothing and more.
- The film explores both the tragic near-extinction of the buffalo as well as the story of how conservation efforts brought the species back from the brink.
- Burns sees lessons in the buffalo’s story for current conservation efforts, as we face climate change and a new era of mass extinction.

Sumatran rhino birth is rare good news for species sliding to extinction
- On Sept. 30, the Indonesian government announced the birth of a female Sumatran rhino at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary.
- The new birth brings the captive population of the species to 10; estimates put the wild population at 34-47 individuals, making Sumatran rhinos one of the world’s most endangered species.
- Each new calf born in captivity signals hope that the species will persist for another generation, but serious problems remain: All of the captive males are closely related, plans to capture more rhinos have stalled, and the existing wild populations are slowly disappearing.

Habitat loss drove long-tailed macaques extinct in Bangladesh, experts say
- Clearing of mangrove forests along the Naf River in southern Bangladesh was the main driver for the extinction of the long-tailed macaque in Bangladesh, according to longtime experts on the species.
- From an estimated 253 of the monkeys in 1981, the population plunged to just five individuals in 2010, then three in 2012, before it was declared extinct in the country in 2022.
- Experts attribute this trend to the clearing of mangroves for shrimp farms, farmland, refugee camps, and settlements.
- Though one of the most widely distributed monkey species in the world, the long-tailed macaque faces severe threats throughout its range, and since 2020 has seen its conservations status progressively worsen from least concern to vulnerable to endangered.

PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ harming wildlife the world over: Study
- While the health impacts of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, or PFAS, are well known in humans, a new study reports how they affect a wide range of wildlife species.
- In this survey of published studies, the authors found and mapped wildlife exposures worldwide, including impacts on animal species in remote parts of the planet, including the Arctic.
- Researchers documented serious PFAS-triggered conditions in wildlife, including suppressed immunity, liver damage, developmental and reproductive issues, nervous and endocrine system impacts, gut microbiome/bowel disease and more. PFAS pose yet another threat to already beleaguered global wildlife.
- National governments have done little to restrict use of PFAS or remediate pollution, despite growing evidence of increased harm to both humans and wildlife. The study authors call for immediate action to remediate PFAS-contamination sites and regulate industrial chemicals to help protect threatened and endangered species.

For Vietnam’s rare reptiles, lack of captive populations may spell doom
- As an epicenter of biodiversity, Vietnam hosts a wide array of reptile species. But new research shows that many species that occur nowhere else on the planet are poorly known and lacking protection.
- The researchers also found that many of Vietnam’s rarest species are absent from the world’s zoo collections and conservation breeding programs, risking their disappearance forever should their wild populations collapse.
- They call on conservationists and authorities to focus on conservation measures to protect the country’s most vulnerable reptiles, including establishing assurance populations that could be used in the future to repopulate areas of wild habitat from which they have been lost.

African Parks to rewild 2,000 rhinos from controversial breeding program
- African Parks, which manages national parks in several countries across the continent, announced it has purchased Platinum Rhino, John Hume’s controversial intensive rhino breeding project
- The conservation organization plans to rewild all 2,000 southern white rhinos in Hume’s project, following a framework to be developed by independent experts.
- The biggest challenge African Parks will face is finding safe spaces to translocate 300 rhinos to every year, as poaching the animals for their horns shows little sign of diminishing.

Off Mexico’s coast, world’s largest limpet is slipping into extinction
- Scutellastra mexicana, the world’s largest limpet, is at risk of extinction and requires urgent conservation action, according to a group of researchers.
- Once widely dispersed, the few remaining viable populations of these sea snails are now found in Mexico’s Islas Marias, a biosphere reserve. Though officially protected, the limpet continues to be harvested.
- Limpet species such as S. mexicana play an important role in maintaining coastal ecosystems, and research suggests they can mitigate some of the effects of warming oceans.
- Researchers are calling for “extreme protection” for S. mexicana and the Islas Marías to halt the species’ decline and potential extinction.

World’s largest private rhino herd doesn’t have a buyer — or much of a future
- Controversial rhino breeder John Hume recently put his 1,999 southern white rhinos up for auction as he can no longer afford the $9,800 a day running costs — but no buyers have come forward so far.
- Hume’s intensive and high-density approach is undoubtedly effective at breeding rhinos, but with the main issue currently a shortage of safe space for rhino rather than a shortage of rhino, the project’s high running costs and concerns over rewilding captive-bred rhino make its future uncertain.
- Platinum Rhino’s financial issues reflect a broader debate around how to move forward with rhino conservation and the role that private owners have to play when the financial costs of rhino ownership far outweigh the returns.
- Update: The nonprofit conservation organization African Parks has moved to buy the rhinos and reintroduce them to the wild.

Study: More than 900 at-risk species lack international trade protections
- A recent study reveals concerning gaps in trade protections for the most at-risk animal and plant species.
- To identify potential gaps, researchers compared species on the IUCN Red List with those covered by the CITES, the global wildlife trade convention.
- Two-fifths of the species considered at risk due to international wildlife trade, 904 species, aren’t covered by CITES, the study found.
- The researchers suggest steps that the CITES committees can take to incorporate these findings, including both strengthening protections for overlooked species and relaxing trade controls for species that have shown improvement in their conservation status.

Amid government inaction, Indonesia’s rhinos head toward extinction (analysis)
- The Sumatran and Javan rhinos, arguably the world’s two most endangered large mammals, are in worse shape than widely reported, according to expert interviews and a recent report.
- The Sumatran rhino is down to fewer than 50 animals in the wild and a much-touted capture program has only caught a single female, which still hasn’t been put into a breeding program.
- Meanwhile, new evidence points to overcounting of the Javan rhino population, putting in doubt the health of its population.
- Experts say the rhinos’ predicament is in part due to a lack of will or a willingness to take risks by the Indonesian government.

Bangladesh orchid losses signal ecological imbalance, researchers say
- Bangladesh has lost 32 orchid species from nature in the last hundred years out of 188 once-available species.
- Habitat destruction, overharvesting, and indiscriminate collection for sale in local and international markets cause the disappearance, researchers say.
- Considering the unique position of orchids in the ecosystem and their herbal, horticultural and aesthetic value, researchers consider this loss alarming.

Small wildcats pose big challenges, but coexistence is very much possible
- Small cat species can come into conflict with people across the globe, and though this plays out differently than big cat conflict, it can be devastating for farmers’ livelihoods.
- When these cats are seen as pests, they can become targets for retaliatory killings, which threatens their conservation.
- But experts say coexistence can be achieved if the appropriate action is taken to mitigate conflict.
- Popular strategies include supporting farmers and communities to construct reinforced predator-proof chicken coops, or ensuring compensation for losses, among other tailored solutions.

Philippines research offers hope for conserving enigmatic Rafflesia plants
- Rafflesia, flowering parasitic plants found only in Southeast Asian rainforests, are infamously difficult to study due to their rarity and small habitat ranges.
- With Rafflesia species edging closer to extinction due to habitat loss, botanists are working to better understand the genus and to develop methods that allow the plants to be propagated in labs and botanical gardens.
- Parallel research efforts from two teams led by Filipino scientists are yielding promising results in both understanding how Rafflesia function at the genetic level and in refining methods that will allow for ex situ cultivation.

Bangladesh’s new red list of plants shows country has already lost seven species
- Bangladesh’s first-ever red list of plant species shows the country has lost seven species in the last century and now risks losing at least another five.
- Researchers involved in the assessments of the conservation status of 1,000 species cited climate change, pollution, deforestation, and poor management of protected areas as major drivers behind the ecological damage.
- The Bangladesh Forest Department is working to protect native plant species through large-scale planting efforts across the country.

Dam-building spree pushes Amazon Basin’s aquatic life closer to extinction
- A recent study looking at 343,000 kilometers of waterways along 6,000 rivers across the Amazon Basin highlights the importance of free-flowing rivers to migratory species of fish and turtles, as well as river dolphins.
- More than 20 species are threatened by the construction of hydroelectric dams on long-distance rivers, considered to be key corridors for biodiversity.
- The study’s researchers identified 434 dams that have either been built or are currently under construction across the whole of the Amazon Basin, and a further 463 proposed dams that are in various stages of planning.
- One of the proposed dams on the Tapajós River would leave at least four pods of river dolphins isolated from one another, leaving them facing a similar fate to the tucuxi river dolphins impacted by similar projects on the Madeira River and today threatened with extinction.

A Southeast Asian marine biodiversity hotspot is also a wildlife trafficking hotbed
- A recent report documents the seizure of 25,000 live animals and more than 120,000 metric tons of wildlife, parts and plants from the Sulu and Celebes seas between 2003 and 2021.
- The animals trafficked include rays, sharks and turtles, mostly between Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, for which the region forms a maritime border zone.
- The people of the Sulu and Celebes seas region have strong transboundary cultural and trade links, prompting experts to call for enhanced international cooperation in enforcement efforts.

Global study of 71,000 animal species finds 48% are declining
- A new study evaluating the conservation status of 71,000 animal species has shown a huge disparity between “winners” and “losers.” Globally, 48% of species are decreasing, 49% remain stable, and just 3% are rising. Most losses are concentrated in the tropics.
- Extinctions skyrocketed worldwide with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, especially since World War II, when resource extraction and consumption rates soared, and the planet saw exponential growth in human population to 8 billion by 2022.
- Habitat destruction, especially in the tropics, is the major driver. But a confluence of human activities, ranging from climate change, to wildlife trafficking, hunting, invasive species, pollution and other causes, are combining to drive animal declines.
- The research also revealed that one-third of non-endangered species are in decline. These data, say the researchers, could provide an early warning for preemptive conservation action by spotlighting species slipping downhill, but where there’s still time to act — and prevent extinction.

Mating game: Survival of some small wildcats at risk due to housecat hybrids
- Small wildcat species suffer from habitat loss, hunting and human conflicts, just like better-known big cats. But some small wildcat populations also face threats from other felines: hybridization.
- Interbreeding with domestic cats (Felis catus), and also with other wildcat species, can alter the outward appearance, behaviors and genetic profiles of wildcats, and create conservation dilemmas about how best to define and protect a species.
- In Scotland, hybridization caused the functional extinction of a subpopulation of European wildcat (Felis silvestris), but scientists and conservationists are collaborating to rebuild the genetically distinct wild population with kittens reared from selectively bred wildcats.
- To protect the African wildcat (Felis lybica) in South Africa, international partners are working to reduce interbreeding by sterilizing domestic and feral cats near the borders of Kruger National Park. Hybridization can also occur between wildcat species and raises questions about preserving genetic purity vs. ecosystem function.

Greater Mekong proves an ark of biodiversity, with 380 new species in a year
- Scientists described 380 new-to-science species from the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia between 2021 and 2022.
- Researchers working in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam identified 290 plant, 19 fish, 24 amphibian, 46 reptile and one mammal species, including a thick-thumbed bat, a color-changing lizard, and a Muppet-looking orchid.
- However, many of these species already face the threat of extinction due to human activity, prompting advocates to call for increased protection of their habitats by regional governments.
- The most urgent threats to the region’s wildlife and habitats include the construction of hydropower dams, climate change, illegal wildlife trade, and loss of natural habitats.

‘Anthill tiger’: Putting one of Africa’s rarest wildcats on the radar
- Black-footed cats (Felis nigripes) are the smallest and also one of the rarest wildcat species in Africa. They’re very reclusive, extremely hard to find, and are among the least-studied nocturnal mammals on the continent.
- Data-scarce species like the black-footed cat are difficult to conserve because the most basic knowledge — of their home ranges, territories, habitat, and reproductive, dietary and other behaviors — is often lacking. Without these many life-cycle details, the targeting of effective preservation strategies is near impossible.
- German ecologist Alexander Sliwa has made it his life’s mission to research the elusive black-footed cat. Establishing and working with a small team, he eventually led the way to the formation of the Black-footed Cat Working Group. Thanks largely to those efforts, a substantial database on Felis nigripes now exists.
- This work led to the black-footed cat being listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Though the species’ survival remains far from secure, the design and implementation of conservation strategies will no longer have to start from scratch, and can be built on valuable, already accumulated baseline data.

One left: British Columbia’s last chance on northern spotted owls
- The northern spotted owl population in British Columbia has declined precipitously since pre-colonization. Earlier this month, two captive born males, which had been released into the wild last August, died, leaving just one female still in the wild.
- The owls depend on old-growth forests, particularly for nesting habitat, but logging of these forests continues to be a threat to the species — less than 3% of BC’s big-tree old-growth forest is left — along with competition from invasive barred owls.
- The owls hold deep cultural significance to First Nations, and the Spô’zêm First Nation, on whose traditional territory the last owl is found, are among those advocating for their protection and a halt to old-growth logging.
- Recent developments include indications the federal government may enact a provision in the Species at Risk Act allowing it to overrule provincial authorities in terms of spotted owl management.

‘I’m not distressed, I’m just pissed off’: Q&A with Sumatran rhino expert John Payne
- Rhino expert John Payne worked with Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia from the 1970s until 2019, when the country’s last rhino died.
- With no rhinos left to care for, Payne has started working with other species, and recently published a book in which he argues the strategy to save Sumatran rhinos from extinction was flawed from the start.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Payne speaks about his new book, moving on after the loss of the rhinos he cared for, and his frustration with officials and conservation organizations.

Death of last female Yangtze softshell turtle signals end for ‘god’ turtle
- The last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle died in April of unknown causes, leaving only two males as the final known living members of a species that has for years been teetering on the brink of extinction.
- “We are devastated,” says the Asian Turtle Program, an NGO working to protect the Yangtze turtle and its habitat.
- The only hope for the species lies in the possibility that a few of these giant creatures may still roam, unknown, in lakes and rivers in Vietnam or Laos.

‘Extinct’ snails return to Tahiti in largest wildlife reintroduction ever
- In April, conservation experts reintroduced more than 5,500 Partula snails to the French Polynesian islands of Moorea and Tahiti.
- About 30 years earlier, these endemic snails were driven out of their native home by introduced species like the giant African land snail and the rosy wolf snail.
- Most Partula species are either extinct in the wild or critically endangered, but experts hope their reintroduction will help restore their populations.

Bangladesh’s vultures still threatened by poison despite conservation actions
- The discovery of 14 dead vultures in an area of Bangladesh considered safe for the scavenging birds has highlighted the persistent threats to the birds despite ongoing measures to protect them.
- The vultures are thought to have died after feeding on a goat carcass laced with poison, which local residents had left out for feral dogs and jackals that had killed their livestock.
- Vulture populations across South Asia were decimated in the 1990s by the widespread use of the cattle painkiller diclofenac; birds that fed on dead cattle that had been treated with the drug died of severe poisoning.
- Bangladesh has since banned diclofenac and ketoprofen, another livestock painkiller deemed poisonous to vultures, and established vulture-safe zones around the country in an effort to boost their populations.

Chilean chinchilla faces new threat from copper mine near national reserve
- Las Chinchillas National Reserve is the only place in the world dedicated to the protection of the Chilean chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera), a species that was considered extinct at the beginning of the 20th century and remains endangered today.
- In 2002, the construction of a road divided the reserve, threatening the survival of these animals; as compensation, the Ministry of Public Works promised to expand the protected area, though this measure is yet to materialize and a new mining project is seeking to set up just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the reserve.
- The Chilean chinchilla is not the only species affected; Las Chinchillas National Reserve is also home to foxes, opossums, Chilean iguanas, various cats and other species under some degree of threat.

Small cats face big threats: Reasons to save these elusive endangered species
- Though lesser known than big cats, such as tigers or snow leopards, more than 30 species of small cats roam the world. They’re well adapted to drastically different habitats, as varied as South America’s high Andes and Asia’s coastal wetlands. Though stealthy and largely unseen, they have value to ecosystems and humanity.
- Generalist small felid species, such as the jungle cat and leopard cat, can thrive in disturbed or agricultural landscapes. There, researchers say, they can significantly aid farmers by reducing rodent populations.
- Small cats also play a key role in maintaining ecosystem health by controlling small mammal populations in the wild.
- Many species, such as the fishing cat and Andean cat, are specialists, thriving in specific habitats, making them potentially important indicators of ecosystem health. Conservationists believe small cat species could make ideal candidates for both conservation and restoration in the global push for the rewilding of nature.

Monarch butterflies become a powerful symbol for justice at the U.S./Mexico border (commentary)
- Monarch butterflies have become a strong symbol for advocates of biological diversity and human rights at the U.S./Mexico border.
- Though its population appears to be at the brink of a U.S. endangered species listing, their conservation along the southern border has been controversial since the former presidential administration’s wall building effort bulldozed habitat at the National Butterfly Center without properly notifying the center about the construction.
- Drawing parallels between the plight of the species and that of human migrants trapped at the U.S./Mexico border, immigration rights protests have begun featuring images of monarchs and people making butterfly shapes with their hands.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

For Argentina’s ruddy-headed goose, threats grow while population shrinks
- The ruddy-headed goose is on the brink of extinction, with just 700 birds left in southern Argentina and Chile, the result of hunting in the 20th century and habitat loss in the 21st.
- Every southern winter, these aquatic birds migrate more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) north, alongside the closely related ashy-headed and upland geese, from southern Patagonia to the province of Buenos Aires.
- A sanctuary in the species’ wintering area, a site specifically for the conservation of the species in the Argentine sector of the island of Tierra del Fuego, and a breeding center in Chile are among the conservation strategies being implemented to save the species.

Five years since the death of Sudan, new film highlights hope for rhinos
- Though the northern white rhino is functionally extinct – following the loss of Sudan, the last known living male, five years ago this week – conservationists are finding hope in a technique that is creating new embryos using genetic material taken from him and two remaining females.
- To mark the occasion, photographer Ami Vitale has released a new short film called “Remembering Sudan,” which will be screened at upcoming film festivals.
- The film can also be viewed online, and a trailer is visible on the page below.
- “Our fate is linked to the fate of animals,” the filmmaker told Mongabay. “What happens next is in all of our hands.”

New map boosts Philippine eagle population estimate, but highlights threats
- The Philippine eagle has been declared threatened with extinction for nearly three decades, but little is definitely known about its range and its wild population.
- Using satellite images, decades of georeferenced nest locations, and data from citizen scientists, a team of researchers identified 2.86 million hectares (7.07 million acres) of forest suitable for the eagles, which they estimate host around 392 breeding pairs.
- Only 32% of the identified habitats fall within the Philippines’ current protected area network, prompting researchers to call for stronger protection measures for the endemic raptor.

Last chance: Study highlights perilous state of ‘extinct in the wild’ species
- A study published in the journal Science highlights that “extinct in the wild” species, those that cling on in captivity or as part of conservation efforts outside their natural habitat, are at serious risk of disappearing entirely.
- The researchers found that 33 animals and 39 plants have no wild population remaining, and at least 15 of these animals are down to fewer than 500 individuals.
- The researchers found that out of the 95 species classified as extinct in the wild since 1950, 11 have gone extinct since the 1990s. On the flip side, 12 of these species have been successfully reintroduced, brought back from the brink of extinction.
- The study highlights the challenges associated with maintaining genetic diversity in captivity and the need for more support of as well as greater coordination and communication among conservation institutions.

Study confirms Bolivian Indigenous park as stronghold for horned curassow
- The critically endangered horned curassow is a bird found only in three protected areas in Bolivia, where it plays an important role in dispersing seeds across the forest.
- A three-month camera-trapping survey in Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS) indicates this area is home to the largest horned curassow population.
- In carrying out the survey, conservationists from Asociación Armonía worked closely with the Indigenous Yuracaré communities living in the park.
- They emphasized the need to support the communities with sustainable livelihood opportunities as a way to conserve the ecosystem.

Orangutan death in Sumatra points to human-wildlife conflict, illegal trade
- The case of an orangutan that died shortly after its capture by farmers in northern Sumatra has highlighted the persistent problem of human-wildlife conflict and possibly even the illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia.
- The coffee farmers who caught the adult male orangutan on Jan. 20 denied ever hitting it, but a post-mortem showed a backbone fracture, internal bleeding, and other indications of blunt force trauma.
- Watchdogs say it’s possible illegal wildlife traders may have tried to take the orangutan from the farmers, with such traders known to frequent farms during harvest season in search of the apes that are drawn there for food.
- Conservationists say the case is a setback in their efforts to raise awareness about the need to protect critically endangered orangutans.

Six newly described chameleon species reflect Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains’ fragility and richness
- Six new species of pygmy chameleon have been described from Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains.
- The mountain forests are subject to intense human pressure, threatening the diverse plant and animal species that live in them.
- A recent study using satellite imagery discovered that in one district alone, 27% of its montane forests were lost to small-scale farmers and herders between 2011 and 2017.
- The Tanzanian government is currently working to increase agricultural production in a region that overlaps with the Eastern Arc Mountains, raising fears this will be at a cost to biodiversity.

Study: Online trade in arachnids threatens some species with extinction
- A recent study reveals a vast and unregulated global trade in invertebrates, posing a risk of overexploitation of some species in the wild.
- A group of scientists scoured the internet and discovered that a total of 1,264 species are being traded online.
- Tarantulas are particularly in demand, with 25% of species described as new to science since 2000 popular with collectors.
- Africa is prominent in this trade as both a source and transit hub for tarantulas and scorpions.

Biodiversity conservation needs a more ecological context and transformational concept (commentary)
- Halting biodiversity loss is one of the great challenges of the 21st century, and if we want international conservation policies that work, we need to urgently re-evaluate how we think ecosystems work, argue the authors of this op-ed.
- We can do so by measuring some core processes of the many unique ecosystems, by employing factors like proxy measuments and analyzing the local ecological and environmental processes taking place in an ecosystem.
- Nations must move away from simplistic policy based on a desire for general rules and instead embrace the complexity of their ecosystems, with the help of researchers and scientists. “Only by protecting this complexity can we protect our diversity into a changing future.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Kew Gardens joins local partners to save tropical plants from extinction
- The U.K.’s Kew Gardens does far more than preserve and display 50,000 living and 7 million preserved specimens of the world’s plants; it also educates the public about the importance of plant conservation via its famous London facility.
- In 2022, Kew Gardens identified 90 plants and 24 fungi completely new to science. They include the world’s largest giant water lily, with leaves more than 3 meters across, from Bolivia; and a 15-meter tree from Central America, named after the murdered Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres.
- The institution is working actively with local partners in many parts of the world, and especially in the tropics, to save these species in-situ, that is, where they were found. When Kew can’t do this, it saves seeds in its herbarium, carrying out ex-situ conservation.
- Kew researchers, along with scientists from tropical nations, are also working together to ensure that local communities benefit from this conservation work. The intention is to save these threatened plants for the long term, helping slow the pace of Earth’s current extinction crisis — the only one caused by humans.

In Nepal, conservationists suspect link between canine distemper and human-leopard conflict
- A new study shows for the first time that leopards in Nepal are exposed to canine distemper virus.
- Researchers suggest the virus could make the big cats less fearful of humans and thus more likely enter settlements in search of food.
- Conservationists have long warned of the risk of feral dogs passing on diseases like canine distemper to wildlife in Nepal, including tigers and leopards.
- Other studies show that while initial infections may have come from dogs, multiple strains the virus are now circulating among wildlife, making the latter carriers too.

Restore linked habitat to protect tropical amphibians from disease: Study
- Amphibians across the tropics are facing a global decline, with disease caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) playing an especially significant role in losses.
- According to recent research, “habitat split” — when different types of habitat, such as terrestrial and freshwater areas, become separated — could play a role in exacerbating disease, potentially altering species’ microbiomes and weakening amphibian resistance.
- According to the study, an amphibian’s journey through altered habitat to complete its life cycle can change the composition of its microbiome (the bacterial makeup of the skin); induce chronic stress; and reduce immune gene diversity — all of which can impact disease resistance.
- Though further studies are needed, this research may offer another persuasive reason to actively restore and reconnect habitats, helping to “prime” amphibian immune systems against disease. There is also a possibility that habitat split findings among amphibians could extend to other families of animals.

Nepalis’ love of momos threatens endangered wild water buffaloes
- The most sought-after dumplings (momos) in Nepal are filled with buffalo meat, which commands a higher price if it comes from a crossbreed of wild and domestic buffalo.
- Crossbreeding dometic and endangered wild buffaloes is illegal and can threaten the wild population, but people do it because of the high demand for the meat as well as a belief that crossbred females produce more milk.
- Authorities in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve are challenged with controlling the mixing of wild and domestic animals inside the reserve.

Study: Paying fishers to ease off sharks and rays is cost-effective conservation
- Paying fishers in Indonesia to not catch sharks and rays could be a cost-effective way of conserving these species, a new study suggests.
- Interviews with fishers at two sites shows that payments of $71,408-$235,927 per year could protect up to 18,500 hammerheads and 2,140 wedgefish at those sites.
- Researchers say this money could come from dive tourism levies, and they are already carrying out a pilot project that has seen fishers release more than 150 hammerheads and wedgefish in eight months.
- An independent expert cautions that there need to be safeguards to prevent a perverse incentive where fishers are deliberately catching these species just so they can release them and claim payment.

Temperature extremes, plus ecological marginalization, raise species risk: Studies
- In a business-as-usual carbon emissions scenario — humanity’s current trajectory — two in five land vertebrates could be exposed to temperatures equal to, or exceeding, the hottest temperatures of the past decades across at least half of their range by 2099. If warming could be kept well below 2°C (3.6°F), that number drops to 6%, according to a new study.
- More than one in eight mammal species have already lost part of their former geographical range. In many cases, this means those species no longer have access to some (or sometimes any) of their core habitat, making it much more difficult to survive in a warming world.
- When animal populations continue to decline in an area even after it has been protected, one possible explanation may be that the conserved habitat is marginal compared to that found in the species’ historical range.
- In the light of recent pledges to protect 30% of the planet’s surface, it is important to prioritize the right areas. The focus should be on conserving core habitat — which is often highly productive and already intensively used by humans — while respecting the rights and needs of Indigenous people, many of whom have also been pushed to the margins.

Sri Lanka seeks lasting solution as human-elephant conflict takes record toll
- The death toll, both human and elephant, from Sri Lanka’s long-running human-elephant conflict problem hit a record high in 2022, with 145 people and 433 elephants killed.
- With the trend worsening in recent years, the government has recently set up a committee to implement a 2020 draft national action plan to tackle the problem from various angles.
- Community fences surrounding villages and cultivated plots are considered the most viable solution over the current default of fences enclosing protected areas, which are only administrative boundaries that the elephants don’t recognize.
- But these and other proposed solutions won’t be rolled out widely; Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis means only pilot projects in two of the worst-affected districts will go ahead for now.

EU demand for frogs’ legs raises risks of local extinctions, experts warn
- The European Union is the world’s largest consumer of frogs’ legs from wild-caught species, most of them imported from Indonesia, according to a group of conservationists and researchers.
- A lack of transparency and environmental impact assessments connected to the trade is cause for concern and is increasing the risk of local and regional extinctions, they say.
- They note the trade also poses the threat of introducing pathogens that could affect frog populations in the importing countries.

At COP 15, biodiversity finance, Indigenous rights, and corporate influence
- Mongabay editor Latoya Abulu joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her visit to the United Nations conference on biodiversity in Montreal that occurred in December 2022.
- Latoya shares the details on the landmark Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, which nearly 200 nations agreed to, toward halting and reversing global biodiversity loss by 2030.
- While the historic agreement has been lauded as a victory, particularly for its inclusion of the acknowledgment of Indigenous rights, biodiversity experts, advocates and Indigenous leaders alike have reservations.
- Latoya speaks about all this as well as corporate influence over the final text, such as the inclusion of “biodiversity credits,” which also raise some concerns.

Of Yetis and extinct turtles: Top wildlife discoveries in Nepal in 2022
- Throughout 2022, Mongabay reported on new species discoveries in Nepal, some of them new to science and others spotted for the first time in the country.
- From busting the Yeti myth to highlighting important biodiversity hotspots in need of conservation, the stories helped bring the Himalayan country’s little-known wildlife to a wider audience.
- These are the top six stories related to important scientific discoveries in Nepal this past year.

Extinct sea cow’s underwater engineering legacy lives on today, study finds
- In a new study, scientists said that the extinct Steller’s sea cow impacted kelp forests in the North Pacific by browsing at the surface, which would have encouraged the growth and strengthening of the algal understory.
- Not only would sea cows have positively impacted kelp forests in the past, but they may have also enhanced their resilience into modern times, according to the authors.
- Globally, kelp forests face many threats, including ocean warming, which can lead to an overabundance of predatory urchins.
- The authors suggest that it might be possible for humans to reproduce the species’ impact on the canopy of kelp forests to enhance kelp forest resilience.

Trafficking and habitat loss spell doom for Bangladesh’s western hoolock gibbons
- The western hoolock gibbon is a globally endangered species but in Bangladesh is considered critically endangered, due to continued habitat depletion, hunting and trafficking.
- According to a 2021 study, the country’s hoolock gibbon population dropped by around 84% over the past four decades, with the total estimated population now at just 469 individuals.
- Wildlife experts say the apes are hunted for food locally, and trafficked across the border to India and China for the illegal pet trade and for use in traditional medicine.
- They’ve called for an urgent conservation initiative to protect the gibbons and their habitats, including greater involvement by border guards and intelligence agents to crack down on trafficking.

Will the world join Indigenous peoples in relationship with nature at COP-15? (commentary)
- Indigenous peoples are recognized as the world’s top conservationists and protectors of biodiversity, and have a strong presence at the COP-15 meetings on biodiversity now in progress in Montreal.
- Many of Canada’s First Nations have lived in relationship with caribou for 10,000 years, for instance, but the herds are faltering as delegates debate hundreds of kilometers to the south.
- “Regardless of what is decided in Montreal, Indigenous peoples will continue to nurture and fight for the wellbeing of the flora and fauna on our lands, though we are hopeful that the world will join us,” the Indigenous authors of a new op-ed argue.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

In Patagonia, a puma’s life is decided by political borders
- Human-wildlife conflict has caused a decline in the puma population in parts of Argentinian Patagonia, research shows.
- One of Patagonia’s emblematic species, the puma is treated very differently by Argentina and Chile, the two countries that share the region.
- The Argentinian province of Chubut pays a puma bounty to incentivize the hunting of pumas, as a measure to counter livestock killings.
- Chile has outlawed puma hunting and has found a delicate balance between ranching and conservation.

Population cycles explain white-lipped peccary’s ups and downs, study shows
- A new study attributes the regular disappearance of white-lipped peccaries in South America to natural population cycles.
- White-lipped peccaries are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers whose absence can have a detrimental effect on tropical forest health.
- Using scientific research, historical records and Indigenous lore, researchers have discovered regular boom and bust population cycles, often synchronized over huge areas.
- The researchers believe these cycles are caused by peccary populations outgrowing their habitat and warn that the species requires large expanses of intact forest to survive and thrive.

Bird declines boost case for transformative biodiversity agreement in Montreal
- A recent report from the conservation partnership BirdLife International reveals that populations of 49% of avian species are decreasing. That figure in the group’s last report, in 2018, was 40%.
- Habitat loss, hunting and fisheries bycatch continue to threaten birds, but newer threats, such as avian flu and climate change, are also endangering the survival of bird species.
- Scientists say the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, which begins in Montreal on Dec. 7, is an opportunity for countries to implement conservation measures, such as protecting 30% of the planet by 2030, to halt the global loss of plant and animal species.

Indonesia’s orangutans declining amid ‘lax’ and ‘laissez-faire’ law enforcement
- The widespread failure by Indonesian law enforcers to crack down on crimes against orangutans is what’s allowing them to be killed at persistently high rates, a new study suggests.
- It characterizes as “remarkably lax” and “laissez-faire” the law enforcement approach when applied to crimes against orangutans as compared to the country’s other iconic wildlife species, such as tigers.
- Killing was the most prevalent crime against orangutans, the study found when analyzing 2,229 reports from 2007-2019, followed by capture, possession or sale of infants, harm or capture of wild adult orangutans due to conflicts, and attempted poaching not resulting in death.
- The study authors call for stronger deterrence and law enforcement rather than relying heavily on rescue, release and translocation strategies that don’t solve the core crisis of net loss of wild orangutans.

Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
- The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, largely due to a lack of sardines, their main food.
- A colony in South Africa’s busy Algoa Bay is suffering a population crash that researchers say coincides with the introduction of ship-to-ship refueling services that have made the bay one of the noisiest in the world.
- They say theirs is the first study showing a correlation between underwater noise pollution and a seabird collapse.
- Current studies are investigating whether the ship noise is interfering with the penguins’ foraging behavior and their ability to find fish.

In Nepal, a turtle that rose from the dead makes another grand entrance
- Researchers have discovered a population of black softshell turtles in a wetland in southern Nepal, raising hopes for its conservation.
- The critically endangered species was previously thought to occur in only a handful of ponds in Bangladesh and India, and was so rare that it was briefly declared extinct in the wild in 2002.
- The new discovery adds to other recent findings of the black softshell turtle in the Brahmaputra River that runs through India and Bangladesh.
- Experts say the wetland and river populations are less prone than the pond-confined ones to the threats of fungal infection and inbreeding, and can form the basis of an ecotourism industry benefiting locals.

Tunnel collapse at dam project in orangutan habitat claims yet another life
- A tunnel collapse, the second this year, at the site of a planned hydroelectric dam in Sumatra has killed another Chinese construction worker.
- The latest incident brings the death toll at the project site to 17 in the space of less than two years.
- The police have declared the death to be accidental, but the string of incidents has raised concerns over the safety of the project, which is already controversial because it threatens to fragment the only known habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan.

Alleged macaque-smuggling ring exposed as U.S. indicts Cambodian officials
- U.S. federal prosecutors have charged eight people, including two Cambodian forestry officials, for their alleged involvement in an international ring smuggling endangered long-tailed macaques.
- The indictment alleges forestry officials colluded with Hong Kong-based biomedical firm Vanny Bio Research to procure macaques from the wild and create export permits falsely listing them as captive-bred animals.
- One of the officials charged was arrested in New York City on Nov. 16, en route to Panama for an international summit focused on regulating the global trade in wildlife.
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.

Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin
- Two African penguin chicks have hatched at a nature reserve in South Africa where conservationists have been working for years to entice the endangered birds to breed.
- The colony was abandoned more than 10 years ago after a caracal killed a number of penguins.
- The recent hatching comes at a time when survival prospects for Africa’s only resident penguin species look grim, due mainly to declining food stocks.
- But encouraging new colonies at sites close to abundant food sources could help to bring the species back from the brink.

Stem cells may make ‘impossible possible’ for near-extinct Sumatran rhino
- Wildlife scientists in Germany are developing a method to produce new living cells from a dead Sumatran rhinoceros in an effort to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered species.
- They have used skin samples of the last male rhino in Malaysia, known as Kertam, who died in May 2019, to grow stem cells and mini-brains as reported in the researchers’ recently published paper.
- Fewer than 80 rhinos remain in the world, and they all currently live in Indonesia in the wild, and some in a sanctuary for captive breeding.
- The captive breeding initiative of the Sumatran rhinos began in the 1980s, but over the years, the attempts have yielded both successes and failures.

More than half of palm species may be threatened with extinction, study finds
- Using novel machine-learning techniques, researchers found that of the 1,889 species of palms with enough data to investigate, more than half (56%) may be threatened with extinction.
- Researchers hope that the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, paired with data from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, can speed up preliminary evaluations of a species’ conservation status, reduce costs, and avoid bias toward vertebrate animals.
- The study found that nearly half of the functionally distinct species were threatened, as well as nearly one-third of species used by humans (at least 185 palm species). The study also identified high-priority regions for palm conservation including Borneo, Hawai‘i, Jamaica, Madagascar, New Caledonia, New Guinea, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
- Like many other threatened plant and animal species, the greatest risk to palms is habitat destruction from agricultural and urban expansion.

Amid Mexico’s Day of the Dead, a fish declared extinct comes back to life
- Amid Mexico’s Day of the Dead festivities, a community released thousands of golden skiffia fish back into the species’ native range in the Teuchitlán River in Jalisco state.
- The fish, declared extinct in the wild in 1996, were part of a captive-breeding program and nearly 10 years of restoration work to restore their habitat and remove some of the threats that would prevent successful reintroduction.
- Freshwater fish are the most threatened group of vertebrates on Earth, with scientists estimating that one out of three is threatened with extinction.
- This golden skiffia reintroduction is part of the Fish Ark Mexico project, which works to conserve highly threatened species of freshwater fish in Central Mexico, including 39 species of splitfins, from the family Goodeidae.

Meet the Millennium Forest: A unique tropical island reforestation project
- A two-decade reforestation project on the tropical island of St. Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean has not only restored trees found nowhere else in the world, but has also involved nearly every member of the island community in the effort.
- The Millennium Forest, as it’s called, has struggled with invasive species and irregular funding, but has still managed to thrive, adding new plant species — several of them threatened and two thought to have gone extinct. The growing forest is attracting animal species to its habitat, including St. Helena’s only endemic bird.
- Ocean islands pose special challenges for forest restoration, since many plant species evolved in isolation on remote islands, and saw drastic population crashes to the point of extinction, or near-extinction, when people and invasive species arrived.
- As a result, island reforestations typically can’t match original forest composition, but must mix both native and non-native species. The Millennium Forest project has now become a legacy that the current generation is handing down to upcoming ones, according to project founder Rebecca Cairns-Wicks.

Humans are decimating wildlife, report warns ahead of U.N. biodiversity talks
- Wildlife populations tracked by scientists shrank by nearly 70%, on average, between 1970 and 2018, a recent assessment has found.
- The “Living Planet Report 2022” doesn’t monitor species loss but how much the size of 31,000 distinct populations have changed over time.
- The steepest declines occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, where wildlife abundance declined by 94%, with freshwater fish, reptiles and amphibians being the worst affected.
- High-level talks under the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will be held in Canada this December, with representatives from 196 members gathering to decide how to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.

Wrong trend for right whales amid ‘devastating’ population decline
- A newly released estimate suggests that only 340 critically endangered North Atlantic right whales remained as of 2021, a 2.3% decline from 2020, when the population numbered around 348.
- Fewer calves have been born in 2022 so far, corroborating research that suggests that North Atlantic right whale species are becoming less capable of reproducing.
- No adult mortalities have been recorded in 2022, but experts say that only about a third of whale deaths are recorded.

Habitat loss, climate change threaten Bangladesh’s native freshwater fishes with extinction
- There were at one time more than 300 native freshwater fish species in Bangladesh, but many have disappeared while others are on the verge of extinction due to habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and climate change.
- Open rivers and other bodies of water in Bangladesh are dwindling fast due to development interventions, unplanned urbanization, encroachment and siltation, which are destroying the habitats of indigenous fish species.
- According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the statuses of 64 freshwater fish species in Bangladesh range from vulnerable to critically endangered while 30 have become extinct in the wild during the last 30 to 40 years.
- Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) has so far revived 37 out of 67 species that disappeared from the wild through captive breeding programs and conservation efforts.

Heat-sensing drone cameras spy threats to sea turtle nests
- Researchers used heat-detecting cameras mounted on drones to monitor sea turtle nesting on a beach in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula.
- Using thermal infrared imagery, researchers detected 20% more turtle nesting activity than on-the-ground patrollers did. The drone imagery also revealed 39 nest predators and other animals, as well as three people, assumed to be poachers, that were not detected by patrollers.
- In Costa Rica, turtle eggs are sold locally and illegally for their alleged aphrodisiac properties. Six out of the seven species of sea turtles are threatened globally, and protecting their eggs is one of the easiest ways to ensure they endure into the future.
- The lead author says these methods are still rather expensive and aren’t a replacement for patrollers but could be an extra tool that they can use to get a big improvement on night patrols, especially on nesting beaches that are dangerous and inaccessible.

Poaching surges in the birthplace of white rhino conservation
- Poaching has more than doubled this year in South Africa’s Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, the birthplace of white rhino conservation.
- Conservationists say poaching syndicates have turned their attention to this and other parks in KwaZulu-Natal province because rhino numbers in Kruger National Park, the previous epicenter of rhino poaching, have been drastically reduced, and private reserves around Kruger are dehorning their animals.
- Hluhluwe-Imfolozi is a very challenging game reserve for anti-poaching patrols to defend, exacerbated by leadership issues in Ezemvelo, the government body responsible for managing KwaZulu-Natal’s conservation areas.
- Unless more is done to tackle the wider issue of the illegal wildlife trade, the future looks bleak for the rhinos of HIP.

‘Critically endangered’ listing for East African dugong population is needed (commentary)
- Though found in relative abundance in parts of northern Australia, the only known viable dugong population in East Africa calls the waters around the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park in Mozambique home.
- A new peer-reviewed paper proposes the East African dugong population be listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List to protect the last few hundred animals that are left.
- While Bazaruto’s management has reduced illegal activities in the park that endanger them, these efforts may not be enough to save East Africa’s dugongs without the support of a new ‘critically endangered’ listing, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Trouble in the tropics: The terrestrial insects of Brazil are in decline
- New research from Brazil shows terrestrial insects there are declining both in abundance and diversity, while aquatic insects are largely staying steady.
- Given a dearth of long-term data on tropical insects, the scientists took creative means to collect data, including contacting 150 experts for their unpublished data.
- Scientists believe the usual global suspects are behind Brazil’s insect decline: habitat destruction, pesticide use, and climate change.
- Experts say tropical countries need more resources, including long-term funding, to discover with greater certainty what’s happening to insects there. Large-scale insect loss threatens many of Earth’s ecological services, including waste recycling, helping to build fertile soils, pollinating plants, and providing prey for numerous other species.

New estimate of less than 50 Sumatran rhinos shows perilous population drop
- The official population estimate for Sumatran rhinos has for years been pegged at “fewer than 80,” but a new estimate compiled by rhino experts from the IUCN and TRAFFIC concludes the number is more likely between 34 and 47 rhinos left in the wild.
- Another nine rhinos currently live in captive-breeding centers in Indonesia, where three calves have been born since 2012.
- A survey by the same groups estimated the population at 73 animals in 2015, which indicates a population decline of 13% per year. Experts say the drop likely indicates both dwindling numbers and previous overestimates.

World’s smallest primate is fading into extinction, scientists fear
- The Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae) could soon disappear as the human imprint on its forest habitat in western Madagascar grows.
- Another team of researchers warned that the Milne-Edwards’s sifaka (Propithecus edwardsi), a species native to the tropical rainforests of eastern Madagascar, could vanish in 25 years.
- “The risk of extinction accelerates dramatically when we take into account deforestation and climate extremes,” said Eric Isai Ameca y Juárez, a specialist in biodiversity loss and climate change at Beijing Normal University, but added that deforestation alone could wipe out the sifaka.
- About a third of the tree cover inside Menabe Antimena National Park, where the Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur is found, has disappeared since 2015.

U.S. charts course for adopting ropeless fishing to reduce whale deaths
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published a report laying out a strategy to allow the use of “ropeless” or “on-demand” fishing gear off the U.S. East Coast with the goal of reducing entanglements of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
- The gear uses acoustic signals to locate and retrieve gear, reducing the amount of time that vertical lines are present in the water column, where they can ensnare right whales and other types of marine life.
- Right whale numbers in the North Atlantic have declined precipitously in the past decade, as collisions with ships and entanglements have killed individuals and hampered the species’ ability to reproduce.
- NOAA’s Ropeless Roadmap estimates that on-demand fishing gear can substantially diminish the risk to right whales, while allowing economically and culturally important fisheries of the northeastern U.S. to continue.

Stamping out invasive species has successful track record on islands, study finds
- A recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that efforts to remove invasive vertebrates from islands were 88% successful between 1872 and 2020.
- Invasive species can be particularly devastating to delicate island ecosystems and the unique native species they harbor.
- The researchers looked at the methods, locations and target species of 1,550 eradication attempts on nearly 1,000 islands around the world.
- The authors say the results of the research provide a guide for conservation groups, scientists and countries to take on eradication projects in an effort to encourage the resurgence of native wildlife and restore ecosystems.

Gharials, most distinctive of crocs, are most in need of protection, study shows
- Slender-snouted gharials are among the most distinctive of the world’s crocodilians, and thus the most in need of conservation action, a new study suggests.
- The study authors scored all 28 existing crocodilian species from around the world — from the Chinese alligator to the Orinoco crocodile — on their functional distinctiveness and threat ranking to arrive at a metric.
- Known as EcoDGE (ecologically distinct and globally endangered), the metric suggests a third to a half of crocodilian functional diversity could be lost over the next century.
- Conservation scientists say the study highlights a new perspective of identifying the crocodilian species most in need of urgent conservation action.

The Socorro isopod: Endangered but important (commentary)
- The Socorro isopod is an endangered crustacean endemic to the thermal water of a spring in the state of New Mexico.
- Its population is relegated to just three small habitats, like a concrete pool built by the state to collect the hot water the isopods live in.
- “There is lot of attention paid to what are called charismatic megafauna [but] the Socorro isopod that is native to a spring that is smaller than most people’s offices doesn’t get the news or the attention grabbing headlines that some of the others do. But their plight is the same.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Endangered species listing of long-tailed macaques: ‘shocking, painful, predictable’ (commentary)
- “Conservationists such as myself are in shock as it reflects the utter failure of the state of things if even the most opportunistic and adaptable generalist primates such as long-tailed macaques are now being classified as endangered,” writes the author of a new op-ed.
- During its latest assessment in March 2022, the IUCN declared the species as endangered due to the rapid population decline and the prognosis of decline if current trends of exploitation and habitat destruction continue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Indigenous lands, knowledge are essential for saving primates from extinction, says new study
- A new study in Science Advances finds that primate species found on Indigenous people’s land face significantly less threats to their overall survival compared to species found on non-Indigenous lands. To guarantee the survival of primates, we must guarantee Indigenous people’s autonomy over their territory, says the paper.
- The population of non-human primates – like monkeys, apes, tarsiers or prosimians – are declining rapidly around the world. At least 68% are in danger of extinction, while 93% have declining populations globally.
- Traditional Indigenous beliefs, practices and knowledge systems reflect the need to exploit resources in the environment, but in sustainable ways that do not also deplete resources primates depend on.
- The largest threat to primates is their loss of habitat due to large-scale deforestation for the sake of large infrastructure projects, roads and rail lines as well as the expanding agriculture frontier that decreases forest cover.

‘It sustains us all’: IPBES report calls for accounting of nature’s diverse values
- A recent assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services calls for the integration of the variety of ways humans value nature.
- Often, many decisions are driven by market-based considerations, which has helped contribute to the global biodiversity crisis, the authors of the assessment say.
- But nature is worth more to humans than just the marketable or tangible.
- By considering these other values, such as cultural identity and spirituality, decision-makers can create policies that are more inclusive and have the potential to stem the worldwide loss of species, the scientists say.

For World Tiger Day, bold new commitments are needed to expand tiger ranges (commentary)
- July 29 marks World Tiger Day for 2022, an important year for tiger conservation.
- A coalition of conservation organizations today issued a statement calling for bold action in advance of meeting next month to identify new tiger conservation commitments for the next 12 years.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Giant kangaroo fossil points to previously unknown species in New Guinea
- Paleontologists have described a new genus of giant fossil kangaroo, named Nombe after the Nombe Rockshelter archaeological site where the fossil was originally found in Papua New Guinea.
- The finding was a chance discovery as Ph.D. candidate Isaac Kerr was reexamining a jawbone bone found in the 1970s and originally believed to belong to the extinct genus Protemnodon, the cousin of the modern day eastern gray and red kangaroos that are found in Australia.
- There has only been limited archaeological research on the island of New Guinea to date, and the fossil record is patchy.
- The team say they hope further research will offer insights into how the island’s extraordinary modern-day biodiversity, much of which is endemic, evolved.

Tigers may avoid extinction, but we must aim higher (commentary)
- “I was extremely skeptical that the world could achieve the grandly ambitious goal set at the 2010 Global Tiger Summit of doubling tiger numbers, or reaching 6,000 individuals, by 2022,” the author of a new op-ed states.
- But because of the overly ambitious goal set in 2010, the world is cautiously celebrating a win for the species, with the IUCN recently estimating the species’ numbers have increased by 40% during that time, from 3,200 in 2015 to 4,500 this year.
- When tiger range states and scientists gather for the second Global Tiger Summit this year, they must take stock of this unusual success and work to give tigers space, protect said spaces from poaching, and scale-up efforts.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Between six ferns: New tropical fern species described by science
- Researchers have described six species of ferns new to science from the tropical forests of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, all in the genus Danaea.
- The ferns range in height from 20 centimeters to two meters (8-79 inches), and some of them are very common locally; two species are assessed as threatened with extinction.
- Most of the preserved specimens used to describe the new Danaea species were collected decades ago, some as far back as the 1800s.
- Scientists unearthed the specimens from herbarium samples while researching patterns of biodiversity in the Amazon.

Turtle DNA database traces illegal shell trade to poaching hotspots
- Critically endangered hawksbill turtles have been hunted for their patterned shells for centuries to make tortoiseshell jewelry and decorative curios.
- The exploitation and trade pushed the species to the brink of extinction; despite international bans on killing and trading the turtles and their parts, persistent demand continues to stoke illegal trade.
- Experts say they hope the launch of a new global turtle DNA database coupled with DNA-based wildlife forensics techniques can turn the tables on poachers and illegal traders.
- The new resource, called ShellBank, will enable law enforcement authorities to trace confiscated tortoiseshell products to known turtle breeding locations to help them crack down on poaching and the illegal trade.

Overexploitation threatens Amazon fisheries with collapse, study warns
- Fishers in the Amazon Basin are catching smaller species of fish than before, indicating overexploitation of the region’s aquatic biodiversity, a new study says.
- The study looked at fish catch data from six river ports (three each in Peru and Brazil) to conclude that “fisheries are losing their resilience and progressing towards possible collapse.”
- Researchers say freshwater fish stocks in the Amazon have never been a priority for conservation or monitoring, which has allowed this decline to occur over the course of decades.
- The loss of larger fish deprives communities for whom fish is a dietary staple of important nutrients, as well as impoverishes the wider river ecosystem.

In Sri Lanka, a waterbird flips the parenting paradigm on its head
- Pheasant-tailed jacanas practice a system of polyandry that sees each female maintain a “harem” of males, each tasked with looking after a clutch of eggs.
- That’s led to unusual parenting roles that see the males incubate the eggs and care for the young, and the females play the leading role in defending against attacks by predators.
- These behaviors have been documented for the first time in a study that looked at jacanas in the Anawilundawa Sanctuary in Sri Lanka, one of six Ramsar wetlands in the country.
- Researchers posit that the species evolved this system of polyandry to maximize the number of chicks that grow into adulthood, given the high mortality rate from predation in the open habitat of the wetlands.

Parrots of the Caribbean: Birding tourism offers hope for threatened species
- Four species of parrots endemic to Caribbean islands in the Lesser Antilles — St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Dominica — are clinging to existence amid a volley of hurricanes and volcanic eruptions that have decimated their populations and habitats.
- Efforts by state agencies, NGOs, volunteers and entrepreneurs are trying to ensure that none of them slips into extinction.
- Ecotourism is seen by most people directly involved as being the best route forward for the parrots’ protection and for sustainable community development.

To win island-wide conservation, Indonesia’s Talaud bear cuscus needs to win hearts
- The Talaud bear cuscus is a secretive species believed to inhabit only four islands in Indonesia.
- Listed as critically endangered, the animal has been driven to the brink of extinction by overhunting and habitat loss.
- Conservationists are working with local youths, traditional and religious leaders, and community members on Salibabu Island to change the perception of the species.

Scotland changes course to save its last native wildcats
- The European wildcat has been put into an “intensive care” program of captive breeding and reintroduction in Scotland.
- Found only in a few small pockets in the north, it is the country’s only remaining native felid.
- But even the conservationists in charge of it accept that the program’s success is far from certain to save the “Highland tiger,” a species emblematic of Scotland’s wild landscapes.

Report sums up wealth of Sri Lanka’s biodiversity — and the threats it faces
- A new report identifies the main threats to biodiversity in Sri Lanka — river diversion, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change — as well as updates the catalog of the island’s wealth of plant and animal life.
- The 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity is the most comprehensive analysis yet of the country’s biodiversity, with more than 100 experts from different fields contributing to the effort.
- It identifies five protected area clusters and recommends systematic interventions to link and expand these areas, while also stressing the need to safeguard biodiversity outside protected areas.
- It further recommends establishing a supervising body with wide powers to coordinate the activities of various government departments that currently manage wildlife, forests, biodiversity and marine environments separately.

Indonesian official charged, but not jailed, for trading in Sumatran tiger parts
- A local politician previously convicted of corruption has been charged in Indonesia for allegedly selling Sumatran tiger parts.
- Ahmadi, 41, the former head of Bener Meriah district in Aceh province, was arrested on May 24 with two alleged accomplices — but he wasn’t detained, pending an investigation.
- Critics say the authorities’ refusal to jail him is emblematic of a core problem in Indonesian wildlife conservation, which is the impunity that powerful politicians and officials enjoy when keeping and trading in protected species.
- Aceh province, at the northern tip of Sumatra, is believed to hold about 200 of the world’s remaining 400 Sumatran tigers — the last tiger endemic to Indonesia following the extinction in the last century of the Bali and Javan subspecies.

Indonesia teams up with Germany on Sumatran rhino breeding efforts
- Indonesia and Germany will team up on advancing the science and technology for captive-breeding of critically endangered species in Indonesia, starting with the Sumatran rhino, to save them from extinction.
- The agreement, signed in May between Indonesia’s Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), will see a newcenter for assisted reproductive technologies and a bio bank established at IPB.
- The initiative between the two research institutes also welcomes government officials, scientists, NGOs and private sector experts from around the world to get involved.
- Indonesia is the last refuge for the Sumatran rhino, whose total population may be as little as 30 individuals.

How Brazil is working to save the rare lion tamarins of the Atlantic Forest
- Small, lively and threatened, the golden lion tamarin is a primate species found only in the Atlantic Forest and which today is struggling for space and connectivity inside Brazil’s most deforested and fragmented biome.
- There are four species of lion tamarin (Leontopithecus spp.) in Brazil, but the golden lion tamarin (L. rosalia) was the first to be described and has enjoyed the most fame.
- Golden lion tamarin conservation efforts have been successful, growing the population from a one-time low of 200 animals to more than 2,000 today.
- The other three species — the black lion tamarin, golden-headed lion tamarin, and black-faced lion tamarin — live isolated in fragmented patches of the Atlantic Forest and face a growing risk of extinction.

Year of the Tiger: Illegal trade thrives amid efforts to save wild tigers
- As the world celebrates the Year of the Tiger in 2022, humans continue to threaten the cat’s long-term survival in the wild: killing, buying and selling tigers and their prey, and encroaching into their last shreds of habitat. That’s why they are Earth’s most endangered big cat.
- Undercover video footage has revealed an enlarged tiger farm run by an organized criminal organization in Laos. It’s one of many captive-breeding facilities implicated in the black market trade — blatantly violating an international treaty on trade in endangered species.
- Under a 2007 CITES decision, tigers should be bred only for conservation purposes. Evidence shows that this decision is being disregarded by some Asian nations, including China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. But CITES has done little to enforce it, which could be done through sanctions, say critics.
- With the world’s second Global Tiger Summit and important international meetings on biodiversity and endangered species looming, it’s a crucial year for tigers. In the wild, some populations are increasing, some stable, and others shrinking: Bengal tigers in India are faring best, while Malayan tigers hover on extinction’s edge.

Yellowstone’s wolves defied extinction, but face new threats beyond park’s borders
- Since their reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park in the Mountain West of the United States in the 1990s, the North American gray wolf has recovered, once again taking up the mantle of a keystone species in its environment.
- But the wolf’s resurgence has raised the ire of ranchers and hunters, and new laws allowing expanded wolf hunts have sprung up across the region.
- Biologists contend that wolves play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, and data suggest that the threat to overall livestock numbers is exaggerated.
- Still, an entrenched fear, perhaps dating to humans’ earliest interactions with wolves, has helped to stir up a desire for vengeance against the species.

Can we save the spiky yellow woodlouse, one of the most endangered isopods? (commentary)
- Saint Helena Island’s spiky yellow woodlouse is a striking, critically endangered isopod that lives on tree ferns and black cabbage trees, high up in the peaks of Saint Helena’s cloud forests.
- The flax industry destroyed and fragmented most of the forests that the woodlouse depends on. Invasive species and climate change continue to affect them.
- The population of spiky yellow woodlouse is estimated to be at 980 individuals, so the Saint Helena National Trust is working to restore the forests on the island by clearing away the flax plants that were left behind and replanting more native flora.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

In the Mekong’s murky depths, giants abound, new expedition finds
- An underwater expedition into the deepest pools in the Mekong River has confirmed the presence of giant freshwater fish, fish migration routes, and high volumes of discarded fishing gear and plastic waste.
- The international team of underwater explorers, local fish biologists and fishermen used deep-sea camera technology to document the ecological value of the unique area in northeastern Cambodia, which is characterized by 80-meter-deep (260-foot) pools, flooded forests and braided river channels.
- But just as researchers reveal the value of its biodiversity, food security and fisheries livelihoods, the area faces a new threat: earlier this year, feasibility surveys began for a hydropower dam planned for directly upstream of the deep-pool habitats.
- According to the expedition team, construction of the Stung Treng dam would have “devastating ecological effects and could seriously threaten local food security in an area of the world already impacted by changing climate.”

Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ 60 years on: Birds still fading from the skies
- Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” catalyzed the modern environmental movement and sparked a ban on DDT in the U.S. and most other nations, though DDT has since been replaced by a growing number of other harmful biocides.
- Now, 60 years later, birds may face more threats than any other animal group because they live in — or migrate through — every habitat on Earth. Birds are impacted by land-use changes, pollution (ranging from pesticides to plastics), climate change, invasive species, diseases, hunting, the wildlife trade, and more.
- The 2022 update to the “State of the World’s Birds” report notes winners and losers amid increasing human alteration of the planet, but documents a continuing downward trend.

Scientists uncover widespread declines of raptors in Kenya
- New research has found a steep decline in numbers for Kenya’s raptors over the past 40 years.
- Encounters with 19 of 22 species studied using road surveys fell during that period, 14 of these declining by 20-95% when compared to the 1970s.
- The study’s findings underlined the importance of protected areas for Kenya’s raptors as populations declined less severely inside parks and reserves.

Conservation win for Bangladesh as efforts to halt vulture decline pay off
- Concerted conservation actions since 2010 have helped halt the decline in vulture populations in Bangladesh.
- The country was previously home to seven vulture species, but one — the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) — has now gone locally extinct, and two others are considered critically endangered.
- A key threat to the birds was the excessive use of veterinary drugs used in cattle, which proved deadly for the scavengers, but which have since been banned.
- Bangladesh has also declared several “vulture safe zones” across the country, where officials work with local communities to raise awareness about the importance of vultures to the environment and to protect breeding sites and habitats.

Newly described plant is latest fruit of Sri Lankan botanists’ collaboration
- Researchers in Sri Lanka have described a new-to-science species of flowering plant, categorizing it as critically endangered because of its small and declining population and restricted range.
- Impatiens jacobdevlasii is named in honor of Dutch botanist Jacob de Vlas, co-author of a series of illustrated guides on the more than 3,000 known flowering plants of Sri Lanka.
- Sri Lanka is among the six global hotspots of impatiens plants, but many of its endemic species are threatened with extinction, with one considered possibly extinct after not having been seen in nearly a century.
- The new discovery also highlights the spirit of collaboration among a young cohort of Sri Lankan botanists, whose work is inspiring greater interest in the island’s plant life, and a growing body of new discoveries.

Boom and bust on Lake Victoria: Q&A with author Mark Weston
- In a new book, British author Mark Weston examines an environmental crisis on East Africa’s Lake Victoria that’s been a century in the making and stems from the introduction of the non-native Nile perch to the lake in the 1950s.
- Weston lived on Ukerewe, the lake’s largest island, for two years, and relates the knock-on legacy of the fish’s introduction through the experiences of the people he met there.
- The boom and bust of the fishery brought about a surging population, deforestation, declining land fertility, and increased pollution in the lake.
- With Nile perch catches down precipitously and little else to sustain the economy of Ukerewe, residents struggle through poverty, lack of opportunity and a trickling exodus from the once-prosperous community, in search of a better life for themselves and their families.

Can celebrities and social media influencers really ‘rewrite extinction’?
- A new conservation fundraising group, Rewriting Extinction, aims to increase awareness about the biodiversity crisis by reaching out to new audiences.
- The group has raised about $180,000 for a range of different schemes in South and Central America, Europe and Asia.
- Critics accuse it of misleading supporters as to how conservation really works and making exaggerated claims on what its fundraising can achieve.
- The real cost of tackling wildlife declines runs into the tens of billions of dollars, and some experts say Rewriting Extinction is selling a false narrative, while others support Rewriting Extinction’s efforts to raise awareness among people who would otherwise be indifferent to the issue.

Saving the near-extinct estuarine pipefish means protecting estuary health
- The critically endangered estuarine pipefish is known to inhabit only two estuaries on the eastern coast of South Africa.
- Recent studies are uncovering how the health of its estuarine habitat rests on a dynamic balance between freshwater inflows that support the food change, and salinity levels that promote growth of eelgrass habitat for pipefish and other species.
- Genetic analysis of the remaining estuarine pipefish populations has found low genetic diversity, highlighting a further risk to its conservation.
- Conservationists are working toward a plan to protect the species and the wider ecology of the estuaries it inhabits.

To secure a future for wildlife, look to their distant past, study says
- A new study maps out the original distribution of 145 large mammal species, showing how their ranges have been reduced, sometimes to just 1% of their original extent, by human activity.
- In South America, the marsh deer and the jaguar are among the species that lost the most distribution, at 76% and 40% of their original range, respectively.
- Some species, like the Javan rhino, confined to a single humid forest in Indonesia, are considered “climate refugees” because their current range is different from the habitats they historically roamed.
- The study’s authors say these changes in historical distribution areas must be considered when planning conservation actions or reintroducing locally extinct species back into the wild.

As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk
- Many plants rely on animals to reproduce, regenerate and spread. But the current sixth mass extinction is wiping out seed-dispersing wildlife that fill this role, altering entire ecosystems.
- Thousands of species help keep flora alive, from birds and bats to elephants, apes and rodents.
- Animals give plants the ability to “move,” with the need for mobility rising alongside warming temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events. Transported elsewhere, plants may be able to “outrun” a warming climate.
- There are growing efforts to restore these critical ecological relationships and processes: protecting and recovering wild lands, identifying and rewilding key animal seed dispersers, reforesting destroyed habitat, and better regulating destructive logging and agricultural practices.

Death of last river dolphin in Laos rings alarm bells for Mekong population
- Earlier this year, the last Irrawaddy river dolphin in a transboundary pool between Cambodia and Laos became entangled in fishing gear and died, signifying the extinction of the species in Laos.
- The transboundary subpopulation had dwindled from 17 individuals in 1993, with experts blaming a range of factors — from the use of gill nets and other illegal fishing practices, to overfishing, genetic isolation, and the effects of upstream dams on river flow and prey availability.
- With the loss, there are now just an estimated 89 Irrawaddy dolphins left in the Mekong River, all within a 180-km (110-mi) stretch in Cambodia, where they face the same range of threats that wiped out the transboundary group.
- Authorities and conservationists say they are now resolved to strengthen protections and improve public awareness of the dolphins’ vulnerability to ensure the species has a future in the Mekong.

Tiger politics and tiger conservation: Where the stakeholders are going wrong (commentary)
- With so many countries, organizations and industries involved, tiger conservation has strayed far from the initial goals and into politics over the decades.
- At the next Global Tiger Summit, scheduled for Sep. 5, the key concerns the participants need to address include past mistakes and lessons learned, besides reviewing new projects, funding, and management plans.
- All Tiger Range Countries and stakeholders need to collaborate with transparency and equal involvement from all parties, with an unbiased organization having full mandate, knowledge, capacity, ambition, network and the means to lead tiger conservation at the forefront.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Global biodiversity is in crisis, but how bad is it? It’s complicated
- Biodiversity has been defined as one of nine planetary boundaries that help regulate the planet’s operating system. But humanity is crossing those boundaries, threatening life on Earth. The big question: Where precisely is the threshold of environmental change that biodiversity can withstand before it is destabilized and collapses planetwide?
- The planetary boundary for biodiversity loss was initially measured by extinction rates, but this, as well as other measurements, have proved to be insufficient in determining a global threshold for biodiversity loss. At present, a worldwide threshold for biodiversity loss — or biosphere integrity, as it is known now — remains undetermined.
- However, thresholds for biodiversity loss can be clearly defined at local or regional levels when an ecosystem goes through a regime shift, abruptly changing from one stable state to another, resulting in drastic changes to biodiversity in the changed ecosystem.
- While the planetary boundary framework provides one way of understanding biodiversity or biosphere integrity loss, there are many other measures of biodiversity loss — and all point toward the fact that we are continuing to dangerously destabilize life on Earth.

Wild bison, taking over Europe and North America, will once again roam England
- This year, a $1.4 million project is about to release a herd of bison in an ancient English woodland, bringing back an animal that hasn’t been in the country for millennia.
- The European bison is expected to help regenerate the forest and boost insect, bird and plant life.
- Bison rewilding projects are springing up across Europe, contributing to the species’ conservation status improving from vulnerable to near threatened.
- North America is also rewilding with its bison species, including on Native America lands, helping to revitalize not only the ecosystem but Indigenous culture and heritage.

Cambodian project aims to revive flagging fish populations in Tonle Sap Lake
- Struggling freshwater fish populations in the Mekong River catchment received a boost earlier this month when a team of scientists and fisheries specialists released 1,500 captive-reared juvenile fish into Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia.
- Experts say the release is the first step in rejuvenating the Mekong’s depleted fish populations and fisheries, which have been suffering in recent years due to overfishing, drought, habitat destruction, and the impacts of upstream dams on the Mekong River’s natural flow.
- The fish, including critically endangered Mekong giant catfish and giant barb, and endangered striped river catfish, were released into a series of fish sanctuaries and community conservation areas that protect crucial fish nursery habitat in Tonle Sap Lake, the world’s most productive inland fishery.
- Long-term survival of the Mekong’s threatened fish species will also depend on protection of migration corridors and upstream spawning grounds, and on maintenance of free-flowing and connected watercourses, say experts.

World’s biggest tropical crop bank opens in Colombia, taking food research high tech
- Colombia has inaugurated the world’s largest repository for beans, cassava and tropical forages near the city of Cali.
- To withstand droughts, heat, floods and disease, crops need to be resilient, and that resiliency comes from genetic diversity.
- The Future Seeds facility will not only safeguard the biodiversity of important tropical crops, but is also expected to serve as a living laboratory for some of the most advanced technologies in agricultural research including a rover built by Google’s Project Mineral, and the use of artificial intelligence.

‘There’s hope’ for North Atlantic right whales: Q&A with filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza
- The documentary “Last of the Right Whales” seeks to bring the plight of these gentle giants to audiences that are largely unaware of how close to extinction the species is today.
- North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) were historically decimated by hunting, but the biggest threats to the species today are ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.
- There are an estimated 336 of the animals remaining, more than 80% of which have experienced entanglement in ropes tethered to fishing gear on the sea floor.
- Documentary director Nadine Pequeneza spoke with Mongabay about bringing these threats to public attention, the importance of engaging with and not vilifying fishers, and why she holds out hope for the whale’s future.

Could abandoning protections save South African abalone?
- A new report exposes multilayered damages associated with the abalone poaching industry between South Africa and East Asia.
- The illegal trade is embedded in South Africa’s deeply unequal society.
- A highly organized supply chain has led to the near-depletion of the species, the corruption of state institutions, and fuelled gang violence in impoverished communities.
- With decades of anti-poaching efforts failing to curb the illicit trade, the authors of the report suggest a radical change of policy: letting the abalone go commercially extinct.

New assessment finds dragonflies and damselflies in trouble worldwide
- A global assessment of more than 6,000 dragonfly and damselfly species shows that 16% are at risk of extinction.
- The main threats to these insects are the human destruction of their wetland habitats, water pollution, and climate change.
- There are more dragonfly and damselfly species than there are mammals, yet they remain so understudied that the assessment failed to come up with enough data to determine a conservation status for more than 1,700 species.
- Researchers say better protecting the world’s wetlands would not only save the thousands of dragonflies and damselflies, but innumerable other species too, and provide us with better water quality and more carbon sequestration.

New study highlights hidden scale of U.S. illegal tiger trade
- A new study highlights the previously underestimated role of the U.S. in the illegal tiger trade: According to newly compiled seizure data, tiger trafficking in the U.S. from 2003 to 2012 corresponded to almost half of the global tiger trade reported for that period in prior studies.
- By analyzing hundreds of U.S. tiger trafficking incidents, the researchers uncovered noteworthy routes from China and Vietnam into the country, with the vast majority of seizures involving traditional medicines.
- They also found significant legal trade in captive-bred tigers into the country, mainly for use in roadside zoos and circuses; experts say the patchwork of U.S. federal, state and local laws that govern the roughly 5,000 captive tigers in the country is insufficient to safeguard them from the illegal trade.
- Experts are calling on U.S. legislators to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act, a bill that would improve the welfare and protection of tigers in captivity and therefore strengthen the country’s integrity on international tiger conservation matters.

A royal release: Cambodia returns 51 rare turtles to the wild
- Conservation authorities in Cambodia released 51 critically endangered southern river terrapins into the country’s Sre Ambel River last November.
- The program is part of wider efforts to bring back a species that was previously thought to be extinct in Cambodia.
- The terrapin, known locally as the royal turtle, was historically hunted as a delicacy, but is also threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation and sand dredging.
- The latest released batch of 31 females and 20 males have been tagged to keep track of their behavior in the wild.

‘Huge blow’ for tiger conservation as two of the big cats killed in Thailand
- Authorities in Thailand have arrested five suspects for killing two Indochinese tigers in a protected area in the country’s west; the suspects said the tigers had been killing and eating their cattle.
- Authorities seized the two tiger carcasses, which had been stripped of their skins and meat, raising suspicions among experts that financial motives, namely selling the tiger parts in the illegal market, may have driven the killing.
- Indochinese tigers have been declared extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in recent years, and while several breeding populations persist in Thailand’s protected area networks, they number no more than 200 individuals.
- The killing on Jan. 8 comes days before officials from Thailand and other tiger range countries are due to meet to discuss progress toward an ambitious goal set in 2010 to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.

Greater Mekong primates struggle to cling on amid persistent threats: Report
- The Greater Mekong region is home to 44 species of non-human primates, including gibbons, lorises, langurs, macaques and snub-nosed monkeys, several of which were first described within the last few years.
- Habitat loss and hunting driven by the wildlife trade and consumption have driven many of the region’s primates to the brink of extinction, with many species now only existing as tiny populations in isolated, fragmented pockets of habitat.
- Experts say controlling the illegal wildlife trade is complicated by the presence of legal markets for primates, often for use in biomedical research.
- Despite the challenges, conservation action at local levels is achieving results for some primate species in the region while also enhancing livelihoods and ecosystem services for local communities.

Wild release marks return of giant forest tortoises to Bangladesh hills
- Researchers and villagers last month released 10 captive-bred Asian giant tortoises into Bangladesh’s Chattogram Hill Tracts to boost numbers of the threatened species in the wild, once thought to be extinct in the country.
- Asian giant tortoises are critically endangered throughout their range in South and Southeast Asia due to heavy hunting pressure and habitat loss.
- The rewilding of the batch of juvenile tortoises is the first wild release of offspring reared at a dedicated turtle conservation breeding center that was set up in the Chattogram Hills in 2017 to safeguard the future of several rare and threatened species.
- Through tortoise conservation, researchers are working with local hill tribes to monitor local wildlife, curb hunting, and protect community-managed forests.

For species on the very brink of extinction, cloning is a loaded last resort
- Extinction is a very real and pressing crisis, threatening biodiversity around the world despite some of the best efforts by conservationists.
- Where conventional conservation methods have fallen short, proponents say biotechnologies like cloning and stem cell technology may be new avenues worth pursuing, including for reviving lost genetic diversity in endangered populations.
- There’s already proof of concept, as scientists have successfully cloned a black-footed ferret and Przewalski’s horse.
- While the topic of cloning has long been an ethical minefield, proponents point out that humans have been intervening in natural selection for thousands of years, and that we should continue to do so, but “in more deliberate, thoughtful, and careful ways.”

Light-fingered monkeys threaten critically endangered Príncipe thrush
- Camera traps have confirmed suspicions that mona monkeys are eating the eggs of the critically- endangered Príncipe thrush.
- The monkeys and several other invasive species were brought to the then-uninhabited islands of Príncipe and São Tomé by Portuguese sailors beginning in the 15th century.
- Conservation authorities are considering allowing hunting of the monkeys in Príncipe Natural Park to reduce their numbers, but further research to understand their place in the ecology is needed.

E.O. Wilson’s last dream
- On December 26, 2021, biologist and author Edward O. Wilson died in Burlington, Massachusetts at the age of 92.
- Routinely compared to Darwin E.O. Wilson is renowned for his work on evolution, biogeography, sociobiology and myrmecology—the study of ants.
- Wilson devoted the last few years of this life to the concept of “Half-Earth”, which he saw as a way to stave off mass extinction, ecological collapse, and create a panacea for climate change.
- In this piece, author Jeremy Hance recounts a 2017 conversation with Wilson and what could be his greatest legacy: the idea of protecting half the planet in a natural or regenerating state for the benefit of people and nature.

Tiger farms doing little to end wild poaching, Vietnam consumer study shows
- More than 8,000 tigers are kept in captivity in China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in commercial facilities ranging from residential basements to licensed venues operating under the guise of tourism, and battery-farm operations holding hundreds of tigers.
- Evidence shows that captive tigers and their body parts enter the legal and illegal trade, where they perpetuate the demand for tiger-based traditional medicines and decorative curios, primarily in China and Vietnam.
- A new study that investigates the motivations of consumers of “tiger bone glue” in Vietnam reveals that consumers prefer products from wild tigers and would carry on purchasing illegal wild products even if a legal farmed trade existed.
- The findings back up calls from conservationists and wildlife trade experts to phase out tiger farming entirely since it doesn’t alleviate pressure on wild tigers, and only encourages the consumption of tiger parts.

Decline of threatened bird highlights planning importance of bison releases
- In a recent study, a team of biologists found that the release of American bison (Bison bison) on a small section of North American grassland led to declines in a species of bird called the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), likely because the density of the bison in the fenced-in study area was too high.
- Bison once numbered in the tens of millions on the Great Plains, but hunting drove the population down to around a thousand by the end of the 1800s.
- Concerted efforts to protect remaining wild populations and reintroduce the animal to parts of the Plains has resulted in a resurgence, and the species is no longer in danger of imminent extinction.
- However, the results of the bobolink study reveals that bison releases and reintroductions must be done carefully to avoid negative impacts on the broader ecosystem.

Extinction not only threatens primates—their parasites are in danger, too
- Primates threatened with extinction have highly specific parasites that will likely vanish if their hosts go extinct.
- Parasites play essential roles in ecosystems, but most are so understudied that scientists don’t understand the consequences of losing them.
- If in peril due to a diminishing number of hosts, parasites may try to jump to new host species—potentially triggering unforeseen infections.

Insects and other invertebrates on tropical islands face challenges as development and tourism expand
- Oceanic islands host 50 percent of the world’s endangered species, but human activities can greatly disturb these isolated ecosystems.
- The number and diversity of insects and other invertebrate species decrease on islands dedicated to urban development or tourism, according to a new study in the Maldives.
- Fragmented habitats take a toll on these species on urban islands, while pesticides are the suspected culprits on tourist islands.

In search of Taiwan’s lost clouded leopards, anthropology uncovers more than camera traps (commentary)
- Indigenous folklore says that the Taiwan’s — likely extinct — clouded leopard species led two human brothers to a heavenly place 600 years ago.
- While biologists have searched extensively for the animal in recent years using camera traps and other modern means, better clues to this enigmatic creature can perhaps be found by consulting Taiwan’s Indigenous people.
- Whether Taiwan’s clouded leopards are extinct or not, its forests could support a population of up to 600 individuals if reintroduced from elsewhere in the region.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Jaw bombs, the deadliest threat to Sri Lanka’s elephants, are scaling up
- Hakka patas, an improvised explosive device that detonates when bit, is the number one killer of elephants in Sri Lanka.
- The first reports of these “jaw bombs” emerged in 2008, and although the main target of poachers is wild boars, there have been an increasing number of instances where elephants are targeted.
- The jaw bombs are made by the hunters themselves from widely available supplies and sold to farmers at the village level, making it difficult to crack down on the practice.
- With Sri Lanka’s fireworks industry suffering massive job losses under the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are warning of a possible increase in skilled workers turning to make hakka patas.

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